House Committee Rejects Bill To Raise Legal Tobacco Buying Age

JACKSON, Miss. (WCBI) – A bill asking Mississippi residents to wait three more years to buy tobacco products goes up in smoke.

House Bill 835 made its way to the House Ways and Means Committee today, January 24, only to be rejected.

Sponsored by Democratic Representative Debra Butler Dixon, the bill would require Mississippians to be 21 to buy tobacco products.

Alabama, Alaska, and Utah already require you to be at least 19, while in California, Hawaii, New Jersey and Oregon, the legal buying age is 21.

Tobacco-control advocates also want to raise the state’s tobacco tax from 68 cents per pack to $1.50.