California State Senator Ed Hernandez introduced a bill to raise the legal minimum age of smokers to 21 from 18, a proposal close on the heels of a similar initiative in Washington state, Reuters said.

New York City and Hawaii County have raised the minimum age to 21, while a handful of other states boosted it to 19, Reuters said. Most states set 18 years of age as the legal minimum. On Jan 21Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson proposed hiking the legal smoking age to 21 under legislation that also would set 21 as the minimum age to purchase and use vapor products.