The California Senate passed a package of measures including raising the minimum age to buy tobacco products to 21 and extending to electronic cigarettes the restrictions on public smoking that apply to cigarettes, the Los Angeles Times said.

A proposal to raise the state tobacco tax by USD 2 (EUR 1.77) was not among the measures approved in a special legislative session on health issues, the newspaper said. The Senate in regular session previously voted in favour of raising the smoking age from 18 and restricting use of e-cigarettes, but the measures failed to clear the lower chamber of the state legislature, the Times said