Oh Yeah, The Legal Smoking Age Is Going Up Across The U.S.

By Cooper Banks

The increase in the legal smoking age in the U.S. seems to have happened without much fanfare or blowback here in the PNW.

I’ve followed how this story has rolled out across the Portland-area news spectrum and it’s been a rather odd thing.  No one seems to be making a big deal about it — at all.

I assumed it would be a big lead story on most local newscasts here in the Northwest, but I simply haven’t seen that.  It’s probably because state laws in Oregon and Washington already set the legal age at 21.

Regardless, there is still some confusion about how the new FEDERAL law change will be implemented.  No one is really sure when the age increase is supposed to take effect.

The policy change is apparently a surprise to many store owners and clerks, who aren’t exactly sure how to implement the change and/or how closely it will be watched by authorities.

Here’s more from KARE-TV in Minnesota.