Today, Illinois became the first state in the Midwest to join California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Oregon, Hawaii, Maine and Washington, D.C. to ban the sale of tobacco and e-cig products to people under the age of 21.

According to Fox 59, the bill would eliminate penalties for underage possession, but keep fines and sanctions for businesses that sell to underage consumers.

Those in favor of this bill hope that raising the legal age to smoke will discourage young people from forming unhealthy habits while the opposition argue that people old enough to vote and serve in the military should be able to make the choice to smoke or not.

@emilyontheradio