紐約市禁止向21歲以下的人銷售香菸
New York City has voted to ban the sale of cigarettes, e-cigarettes and tobacco to anyone under the age of 21, raising the previous threshold of 18.
New York is the first large city in the US to raise the age limit so high, a resolution that follows years of increasingly stringent laws on tobacco.
The federal age requirement for buying cigarettes is 18, which some states previously raised to 19.
A spokeswoman for New York City council said the proposal was approved by 35 votes to 10.
New York was the pioneer of a ban on smoking in bars, restaurants and public places - initially criticised - but since adopted in cities across the West.
Cigarette taxes are also the highest in the US.
Authorities hope that raising the legal age for buying cigarettes will reduce the number of smokers aged 18-20 by 55 percent.
But the move will be unpopular among those who feel that outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg has already over-stepped the line between protecting public health and interfering with personal choice.
City hall has said that in 10 years the percentage of adults who smoke has fallen from 21.5 percent in 2002 to 14.8 percent in 2011.
Among young people it has remained unchanged since 2007, at 8.5 percent according to official statistics.紐約市投票禁止向21歲以下的人出售香菸、電子香菸和菸草，提高之前18歲的門檻。
紐約市是美國第一個將購煙年齡限制提得如此高的城市，這個解決方案是緊跟這些年來越來越嚴格的菸草法律。
聯邦法律規定購買香菸的年齡是18歲，其中一些州之前提高至19歲。
紐約市議會的一位發言人稱，該提案以35票對10票通過。
紐約市是在酒吧、餐館和公共場所進行吸菸禁令的先驅，最初飽受批評批評——但在西部城市得到採用。
紐約市的菸草稅也是美國最高的。
當局希望提高購買香菸的法定年齡能減少55%18至20歲的吸菸者數量。
但是，此舉被認爲是即將離任的市長邁克爾·布隆伯格超出了保護公衆健康和介入個人選擇之間的界限，是不得人心的。
紐約市政府表示，10年內，成年吸菸者比例從2002年21.5%下降到2011年的14.8%。
根據官方的統計數字，自2007以來年輕吸菸者保持不變在8.5%左右。
