New York City councilmen are voting to change the legal tobacco age from 18 to 21, which will go in to effect six months after Mayor Michael Bloomberg signs it into law. Also in New Jersey, legislators are likely to debate a bill that would raise that state’s age limit from 19 to 21.

Richard Codey, who was the governor of New Jersey from November 2004 to January 2006, rose the age limit from 18 to 19 and is now a state senator and the sponsor of new age limit legislation, and he is wanting to help start a chain-reaction about new age laws concerning tobacco. Codey expects his bill to pass and take effect in early 2014 but hasn’t heard from Governor Chris Christie, yet he expects the possible presidential nominee to consent to the change.

Electronic cigarettes are a different story. Codey is not sure if his bill would affect electronic sales as New York City’s law does, but he’s opposed to young smokers selecting that technology. “It’s like someone smoking marijuana”, Codey says, “They want to get a better high.” People who go with electronic cigarettes disagree with such arguments and say the majority of users are normal smokers looking for a healthier change without just quitting cold turkey.

One of the largest national anti-tobacco organizations fully supports banning 18 to 21 year-olds from buying cigarettes. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is currently supporting an attempt to raise the smoking age to 21 at the county level on Hawaii’s largest island, and has been involved in sweeping efforts to raise the age to 21 for almost a year. A fact sheet from the group says around 50% of smokers begin using cigarettes daily before they turn 18 and more than 75% of adult smokers do so before they turn 21, arguing that cutting off access at a young age may drop future adult smoking rates.

Cigarettes are highly addictive, very bad for you, and have lots of harmful chemicals in them that can lead to lung cancer and other deadly diseases. The main reason that the New York council are trying to bump up the age is so that young teens and adults will realize that it’s not cool and that it’s a bad choice to start smoking so, if the law changes to 21 then the young teens will want to wait to smoke and as soon as they get around the legal age, they will realize that it’s not a smart thing to do.