The city of Hackensack, NJ is exploring the idea of raising the tobacco purchasing age to 21.
The city manager of Hackensack, David Troast says, “I think the entire council believes that smoking is not something that is a good thing to do, but is it our role to prevent somebody from making that choice?”
He went on to add that the city is only in the information collection stage including the impact on businesses as well as enforcement.
If the measure is put into place Hackensack would join other New Jersey municipalities such as Teaneck who have raised the age to 21. According to Teaneck Mayor Lizette Parker, “I would tell them to take the next step and let’s move it on to the next municipality so we can eventually have a statewide ban.”
Hackensack is home to 44,000 residents over 4.346 square miles and was founded in 1665.
