ST. CLOUD - A St. Cloud doctor is pushing our local city councils to raise the tobacco age. Doctor Julie Anderson is with the St. Cloud Medical Group. She has been making presentations to several city councils in the St. Cloud metro area.

She says she feels she can get more traction for changing the age from 18 to 21 at the city level, rather trying change state law.

Sometimes things have to start at a grassroots level, especially when you've got big dollars potentially lobbying at the state level against the initiative.

Anderson says Edina has already been working on drafting an ordinance changing their minimum tobacco age to 21, and she expects them to be the first city in the state to do it. Anderson says over 200 cities nationwide have raised the tobacco age to 21, along with two states - California and Hawaii.

As for the local cities that have heard Anderson's presentation, she says they've told her they'll take it under advisement.

Anderson says 70 percent of Minnesota residents support the idea.

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