Senate Bill 473, an act that would raise the minimum legal sales age for tobacco products from 18 to 21, was presented to Gov. Tom Wolf on Nov. 22. Wolf is expected to sign the bill, which would take effect July 1.

Under the bill, it would become a summary offence for persons under the age of 21 to buy any tobacco or nicotine products, including e-cigarettes. Individuals under the age of 21 who serve in the military, however, would be exempt from the raised age limit.

The prime sponsor of Senate Bill 473, Pennsylvania Sen. Mario M. Scavello, R-Monroe, proposed the raised age limit in response to increasing tobacco usage among teenagers. One goal of the legislation is to reduce the opportunities for teens under the age of 18 to obtain tobacco products from their older peers. 

Reducing the number of teens who use tobacco is expected to have longer-term effects on the number of tobacco users of all ages. Scavello cited statistics from the National Academy of Medicine in an 2018 memoranda, writing that "preventing youth initiation of tobacco is important for reducing the overall damage that tobacco use causes because 81% of current smokers first began smoking before they turned 21 years of age."

Pennsylvania is set to become the 19th state to enact this sort of legislation, known as a tobacco 21 law.