Another Hudson Valley County Officially Raises Tobacco Age to 21
More Hudson Valley residents will need to wait until they're 21 to purchase cigarettes thanks to a new law that passed last night.
Rockland County joins Orange and Sullivan Counties in officially raising the smoking age to 21. The resolution was adopted by the Rockland County legislature by a vote of 12 to 1 on March 20 and sent to the County Executive.
Yesterday the Rockland County Legislature announced on Facebook that County Executive Ed Day returned the legislation unsigned. Because he did not sign or veto the measure it has officially become law.
Rockland County's new law bans the sale of any tobacco products to persons under the age of 21. This including "cigarettes, chewing tobacco, cigars, electronic cigarettes, rolling papers and other smoking paraphernalia."
Violators of the law could be faced with fines up to $2,000 per day. The law is headed to the Secretary of State and will be filed within the next ten days. 90 days after being filed the law will officially take effect.
Proposals to raise the smoking age in Ulster and Dutchess Counties have recently begun to gain popular support. As of now the only other New York counties that ban the sale of tobacco and electronic cigarettes to those under 21 are Cattaragus, Chautauqua, Cortland, Onondaga, Orange, Schenectady, Suffolk, Sullivan and Tompkins. New York City and Albany also require tobacco customers to be over 21.