The legal age to purchase tobacco, e-cigarettes and vape products, with or without nicotine, was raised from 18 to 21 in Washington state. The law penalizes anyone who sells to underage buyers, usually with a fine and possible jail time and their license revoked. This goes into effect Jan. 1, 2020.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed the bill on April 5, making Washington the ninth state to raise the legal smoking and vaping age. The legislation does not affect reservations, who are still able to sell smoking and vaping products to 18-year-olds.

Ruze 509 is one of many vape stores in Washington that the new law is going to effect. Brendan Killeen, manager of Ruze 509, said the most common customers are from the 19 to 25 age range, with the oldest customer past 80 years old.

“We’re here to help people quit smoking. Usually it’s stuff in the .6 percent nicotine to 1.2 percent nicotine range,” Killeen said. “It was pretty great helping him quit smoking after smoking for 65 years.”

Killeen said menthols are one of the most popular items sold in the store. However, he believes the new law will drive people back to cigarettes because they’re easier to obtain.

“Realistically, corner stores don’t give a damn as long as they aren’t going to get fined for it,” Killeen said. “I’m not fearing for the business so much as the impact on the community’s health. There’s a lot of people that have already said that they’ll go back to smoking cigarettes.”

The issue of personal freedom was also mentioned by Killeen, pointing out the fact that people are eligible to be drafted for war at 18 years old, yet are not able to make their own purchase decisions with the new law.

Another critic of the new law is Duke Chang, owner of Central Market and Smoke Shop. Chang moved to Ellensburg 11 years ago because of the bigger market with college students and less competition than the west side. However, he believes his business might struggle when the law is implemented.

“Around 60 percent of my customers are under 21, so we’re going to lose some business, it sucks,” Chang said. “It’s dangerous because more people are going to try getting their stuff illegally.”

The most popular items sold to students at his store according to Chang are cigarettes, jul pods and vape juice.

Tobin Rewa-Ehley, a 21-year-old CWU student who supports the new law, said he started vaping at 20 years old. According to Rewa-Ehley, he spent an average of $25 a month on vape products but has made the decision to quit this year.

“What made me stop was it just got old and kind of a waste of money after I really thought about it,” Rewa-Ehley said. “It’s a good thing for the youth because it can really help with underage nicotine use.”

According to a press release by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Washington state tobacco use takes up more than $2.8 billion in annual health-care costs. Rewa-Ehley said the new law is only looking out for the safety of everyone.

“Addiction is a real problem for many people,” Rewa-Ehley said. “Whether people support the law or not, we can all agree that it will at least slow the process down and give people more time to think about what they put in their body.”