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California About To Raise Tobacco Age To 21

SACRAMENTO (CBS / AP) -- Smokers have to be 21 and older to buy tobacco products in California under a new law that takes effect Thursday.

Gov. Jerry Brown last month signed a series of tobacco-related legislation that increases the state's minimum age to buy tobacco from 18 to 21, regulates electronic cigarettes and restricts tobacco use in other ways.

Military personnel with an identification card can still buy cigarettes if they're 18.

California is the second state after Hawaii to raise the legal age to 21. Tobacco companies have long opposed restrictions on sales, but kept a low-profile in the California debate.

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