This Texas city just became the first to raise the age for buying tobacco to 21

The legal age for purchasing tobacco products just went up in one of the biggest cities in Texas.

San Antonio became the first city in the state to raise the legal age to buy tobacco products when its city council voted 9-2 Wednesday to change the legal age from 18 to 21, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

The new law will take effect Oct. 1, and only affects retailers (and 18-, 19-, and 20-year-old smokers) within San Antonio city limits. It does not seek any penalties or enforcement for young adults 18 to 20 years old who purchase, use or possess tobacco — just $500 fines for retailers that sell to tobacco users under 21.

A bill in the Texas Senate that would have pushed the age up to 21 across Texas and did provide for penalties for tobacco users under 21 did not make it out of committee last session.

Fort Worth is considered to be at the opposite end of municipal smoking ordinance spectrum.

In December, Fort Worth City Council updated the city's smoking ordinance for the first time since 2008 when it voted 8-1 to ban smoking inside bars and bingo parlors, making it the last of Texas' largest cities to do so.

Five states have increased their legal smoking ages to 21, according to the Washington Post: California, New Jersey, Oregon, Hawaii and Maine.

Matthew Martinez: 817-390-7667; @MCTinez817

This story was originally published January 12, 2018 at 1:44 PM with the headline "This Texas city just became the first to raise the age for buying tobacco to 21."