Fresh off Kansas City, Mo. and Kansas City, Kan. raising the age to purchase tobacco products and electronic smoking devices from 18 to 21 last month, nearby Independence, Mo. has introduced a proposal to do the same thing. The city council heard the first reading of the proposal at its meeting on Monday night, with Mayor Eileen Weir making a motion to keep the age at 18. She said that she didn’t want to see 20-year-olds arrested for possession of cigarettes, according to a report from The Examiner. However, her objection wasn’t enough to stop the bill, as it is scheduled to be voted on at the council’s Dec. 21. meeting. Should it pass, the change would go into effect in 60 days and make Independence the third city in Missouri to increase the minimum purchase age to 21, joining Kansas City and Columbia, who passed the increase in Dec. 2014. Independence is the fourth-largest city in the state of Missouri with a population of just over 117,000 residents. It is located about 10 miles east of Kansas City.
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