--- description: New Jersey just raised the minimum age to buy cigarettes to 21, joining California and Hawaii title: You Will Have to Be 21 Years Old to Buy Tobacco in 3 U.S. States image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt74748a2e8503bf07/6988d6c5656a3f453cbd0f3a/gettyimages-74964967.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [New Jersey](/tag/new-jersey/) ## New Jersey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # New Jersey Raises Smoking Age to 21 Years Old by [Lisa Marie Segarra](/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 22, 2017 1:29 PM CUT  BATH, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 30: A couple smoke cigarettes in a public house in Bath, on June 30 2007 in Somerset, England. From 6am July 1 smoking in all enclosed places such as cafes and pubs will be banned. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images) BATH, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 30: A couple smoke cigarettes in a public house in Bath, on June 30 2007 in Somerset, England. From 6am July 1 smoking in all enclosed places such as cafes and pubs will be banned. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)Matt Cardy—Getty by [Lisa Marie Segarra](/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 22, 2017 1:29 PM CUT New Jersey just raised the[ minimum age to buy tobacco ](http://time.com/3836427/hawaii-smoking-age-to-21/ "undefined")to 21, joining California and Hawaii. The new law was signed by [Gov. Chris Christie](http://time.com/4864294/chris-christie-mets-foul-ball-booed/ "undefined") and is set to take affect on Nov. 1\. The law includes the sale of all tobacco and electronic tobacco and smoking products. New Jersey’s smoking age was already higher than most states after it previously made the minimum age to buy tobacco products 19 in 2005. Deli and convenience store owners opposed the bill, saying it would diminished the sales of their sandwiches and other products,[ according to NorthJersey.com.](http://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2017/07/21/governor-signs-law-raising-smoking-age-21/501204001/ "undefined") The Office of Legislative Services also said that tax revenue could drop by $4.5 million in the law’s first year in affect with less damage coming in years following. However, health advocates have widely supported the bill. New Jersey Assemblyman Herb Conaway, who is also a physician from Burlington County and co-sponsor of the legislation, told NorthJersey.com that more needed to be done to “help deter \[teens\] from picking up this dangerous and deadly habit.” Christie [vetoed a similar bill](http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/01/19-%5Fand%5F20-year-olds%5Fmay%5Fstill%5Fbuy%5Ftobacco%5Fe-cigs.html "undefined") to raise the age to 21 last year. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4869536/smoking-age-tobacco-new-jersey/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4869536/smoking-age-tobacco-new-jersey/"},"headline":"New Jersey Raises Smoking Age to 21 Years Old","datePublished":"2017-07-22T13:29:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:40:59.972Z","description":"The new law will go into affect on Nov. 1","url":"https://time.com/4869536/smoking-age-tobacco-new-jersey/","keywords":["New Jersey","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt74748a2e8503bf07/6988d6c5656a3f453cbd0f3a/gettyimages-74964967.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Marie Segarra","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt74748a2e8503bf07/6988d6c5656a3f453cbd0f3a/gettyimages-74964967.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"smoking-age-new-jersey-21","caption":"Smoking Ban Comes Into Effect In England","creditText":"Matt Cardy—Getty","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/new-jersey/","name":"New Jersey"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4869536/smoking-age-tobacco-new-jersey/","name":"New Jersey Raises Smoking Age to 21 Years Old"}}]}] ```