Village of Maywood is recognized for raising tobacco purchase age.
RHA has presented the Village of Maywood with a Lung Health Champion award in recognition of its trailblazing Tobacco 21 ordinance. In May, the Village Board unanimously voted to raise the minimum legal age for tobacco product sales in the village from 18 to 21. The ordinance took effect immediately.
“Someone has to step up and take a stand and we, the village of Maywood have taken one… it’s to save a generation that’s coming behind us,” said Mayor Edwina Perkins at the time of enactment. The Institute of Medicine projects that Tobacco 21 could reduce overall smoking by 12 percent by the time today’s teenagers become adults.
It’s been a busy summer for Tobacco 21 advocates. In addition to Maywood, the villages of Berwyn, Buffalo Grove, Lincolnshire and Vernon Hills have adopted ordinances, bringing the total number of municipalities in Illinois to 11. This week, Lake County became the first in Illinois to raise the minimum age to buy cigarettes, tobacco products and electronic cigarettes to 21 in unincorporated areas of the county.
Want to bring a Tobacco 21 ordinance to your community? Contact Matt Maloney, RHA’s Director of Health Policy, via email at mmaloney@resphealth.org or by phone at (312) 628-0233.
Tobacco 21 from Cook County Public Health on Vimeo.