After its successful first outing, bill 2335 proposed to raise the sale of tobacco to age 21 from 18 dies over concerns about limiting young adults' freedom of choice.

A House bill was proposed to raise the minimum age for tobacco sales from 18 to 21 has been burned out at the state Capitol.

The measure, House Bill 2335, needed a hearing in the House Commerce Committee to advance. But the committee chairman, Republican Jeff Weninger, R-Chandler, said that he would not hear the bill because he believes it will put an unnecessary restriction on the 18-year-old which is the current legal age is 18.

While cautioning that he is not a proponent of smoking, Weninger said it came down to a matter of treating an adult like an adult.

Weninger said in a text message that if a person is legally an adult and can serve the country in the armed forces, he believes that they can decide whether to or not to smoke. He was not available for interviews because of lawmakers were tied up with voting on bills.

The house bill passed through the House Health Committee last week with bipartisan support and a boost from an anti-tobacco youth group, it was sponsored by Republican Paul Boyer, R-Glendale.

Both Boyer and the group, the Yavapai Anti-Tobacco Coalition of Youth, said that they will try again in the next session.

Gunner Tillemans, coalition president and a student at the Mignus Union High School, said that he was disappointed with the bill's demise, but not deterred.

Tillemans said that they were still going to be hitting other cities.

He also added that the coalition was behind the city of Cottonwood's decision taken in 2016 to raise the minimum age from 18 to 21 years-old for tobacco sales. Students of the ‘Youth coalition’ are now working in Sedona, hoping to get the support of the local chamber of commerce and the Sedona Rotary Club he said.

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