Codey: Raise smoking age

[Kire]

New Jersey high schoolers would be barred from buying cigarettes under a plan by acting Gov. Richard J. Codey to raise the purchase age to 19.

Codey, who also is Senate president, announced this morning he will introduce legislation to raise the cigarette buying age from 18 to 19.

"Our first mission is to reduce smoking in the earlier teen years when most smokers first light up," Codey said. "In order to do this, we need to accomplish our second mission, which is to raise the legal age for purchasing tobacco.

New Jersey would become the fourth state in the nation to raise the age requirement to 19. The others are Alabama, Alaska and Utah.

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