Huge Victory for Maryland Youth!
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan Signs Bill Raising Tobacco Sales Age to 21
We did it! After months of hard work from the Tobacco 21 campaign and its partners, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan signed a bill that raises the legal age for purchasing tobacco products to 21 years of age.
Thanks to you and our partners in this fight, the American Lung Association, along with American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and the American Heart Association, Maryland now becomes the 13th state to ban the purchase of tobacco products to young people aged 21 and under.
The Tobacco 21 effort in Maryland was funded in part by a grant from the Healthy Montgomery Transforming Communities Initiative (TCI), a collaborative funding initiative established by Trinity Health, one of the largest multi-institutional Catholic health care delivery systems in the nation. The Healthy Montgomery TCI is a partnership between the Institute for Public Health Innovation (IPHI), Trinity Health member Holy Cross Health, Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, the Healthy Montgomery Steering Committee, and numerous other government and community partners. TCI seeks to promote healthy behaviors and prevent chronic disease.
Young people in Maryland will now have a better chance of staying off tobacco products for good. Studies show that the younger you start, the longer you keep at it – 95 percent of adult smokers began before age 21.
It is clear that our efforts are contributing to stamp out smoking for teenagers and young adults under 21 throughout this nation. This week, Texas announced it is getting closer to raising the age for tobacco purchase. Walmart also announced it would raise the age limit across all its stores nationwide.
The Transforming Communities Initiative looks to continue combating tobacco use and curbing obesity to improve health in Maryland and throughout the nation.
Transforming Communities Initiative (TCI) is an innovative, collaborative funding initiative established by Trinity Health, one of the largest multi-institutional Catholic health care delivery systems in the nation. Grant recipients, in collaboration with a community coalition(s), implement and support evidence-based and innovative policy, systems and environmental change strategies to reduce obesity, promote tobacco-free living, and address social determinants. TCI leverages health system funding, community partnerships, local match dollars, capital loan dollars, and national technical assistance resources to improve community health.