photo by: Journal-World Graphic

The Douglas County Commission meets in the historic courtroom on the second floor of the county courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St.

The Douglas County Commission will consider a measure Wednesday that would require customers to be 21 before they can legally purchase tobacco products in rural county stores.

The measure won’t have widespread implications because it would only apply to four stores in the county’s unincorporated area.

On Sept. 12, representatives from LiveWell Douglas County, the Lawrence Boys & Girls Club, Lawrence Memorial Hospital and the Kansas chapter of the American Lung Association urged commissioners to raise to 21 the legal age to buy tobacco products, saying it would end the social chain of 19- through 20-year-old friends buying tobacco products for minors. The measure would raise the age to purchase all products that include nicotine, including the liquids used in electronic cigarettes, to 21.

County commissioners signaled support for raising the age minimum, and it appears no debate on the matter will occur Wednesday. The smoking measure is on the County Commission’s consent agenda, which consists of items considered routine enough that they can be bundled together and passed with one motion and no debate.

The County Commission meets at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St. To view the County Commission’s complete agenda, visit douglascountyks.org.