Pritzker signs bill raising legal age to buy tobacco products to 21

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation Sunday raising the state's legal age for purchasing tobacco products from 18 to 21 - a move that has been enacted locally by dozens of communities in the suburbs and beyond.

Beginning July 1, Illinois will ban the sale of cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco and nicotine-based products such as e-cigarettes and vaping materials to anyone under the age of 21.

Similar laws have been adopted in California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Oregon, Hawaii, Maine and Washington, D.C. Illinois is the first state in the Midwest to implement the ban, Pritzker said Sunday in a tweet.

"Today is a milestone day for the health of our communities and especially our young people," he tweeted. "For Illinois, it will reduce costs for our state, it will make our schools and communities healthier places to live and learn, and - most importantly - it will save lives. I am so proud to sign this legislation today."

Arlington Heights, Barrington, Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove Village, Hoffman Estates, Lake Zurich and Mount Prospect are among the dozens of municipalities across the state that have voted to increase the tobacco age. After former governor Bruce Rauner's veto last summer of a statewide ban on tobacco and nicotine sales to those under 21, several towns were prompted to pass their own measures aimed at reducing the number of young smokers and keeping those products out of school.

The statewide legislation, House Bill 345, eliminates penalties for underage possession, though businesses will still face fines and other consequences if they sell to underage customers.

Supporters of the law say it will discourage teens from a deadly, long habit.

Opponents have argued that 18-year-olds should be able to decide whether to smoke if they're old enough to vote and serve in the military.

• Daily Herald wire services contributed to this report.