The city council of Gladstone, Mo., a suburb of Kansas City, Mo. ten miles to the north, has passed an ordinance that will increase the minimum age to purchase tobacco and alternative nicotine delivery products to 21-years-old as of March 1. Gladstone becomes the fourth city in Missouri to approve an increase, joining Independence, Columbia and Kansas City, which passed its increase in conjunction with Kansas City, Kan. in Nov. 2015. The area has become a growing hotbed of cities looking to increase the minimum age to purchase tobacco in recent months, with several additional cities currently on track to increase the minimum age to purchase tobacco. The proposal was introduced by Councilwoman Carol Suter, who told the Kansas City Star that the increase is in keeping with the city’s goal of having a healthy community and economy. Gladstone is home to an estimated 26,157 people as of 2013 census numbers.
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