DHAKA: The New York City Council voted to raise the minimum age for buying tobacco to 21, the highest in the country, in hopes of reducing smoking among the city’s young adults.

The council voted 35 to 10 on Wednesday to raise the age requirement from 18, The Straits Times publishes this report on Thursday.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an anti-smoking crusader, was expected to sign the bill, which would become law 180 days later.

Some 19,000 high school students under 18 currently smoke in the city and 80 percent of smokers start before age 21, according to the city’s health department.

Youth smoking rates have hovered around 8.5 percent since 2007 after having been cut in half from 2001 to 2006.

BDST: 1212 HRS, OCT 31, 2013
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