Tobacco 21 takes effect Monday, raising the age at which tobacco can be legally purchased in Illinois to 21.
Also Monday, the tax on a pack of cigarettes will go up by $1, raising the state tax to $2.98 a pack. The cigarette tax increase was part of a gambling expansion bill signed into law Friday by Gov. JB Pritzker.
Included in that bill is a first time ever tax on e-cigarettes sold in Illinois. The state will impose a 15 percent tax on the wholesale price of the products.
Critics of the law said they’re skeptical the law will actually keep tobacco out of the hands of kid. Those skeptics included former Gov. Bruce Rauner who vetoed an earlier version of the law while he was in office. Rauner also said the law would hurt businesses in border areas of the state as people went to neighboring states to buy cigarettes.
That same argument applied to the extra $1 per pack state tax on cigarettes that takes place Monday. It will give Illinois the 10th highest per pack tax on cigarettes according to the Campaign For Tobacco Free Kids.
