BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- Around 100 people gathered on Beacon Hill Wednesday to urge lawmakers to pass a bill raising the minimum smoking age to 21.
The American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network sponsored the lobby day, and for many there--cancer patients, survivors, and their families--the issue of the smoking age hit home.
Nicole Sporages, who was part of a group of students who came to the rally from Franklin High School, told WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens the bill was personal.
"My grandma, when she was little, she started smoking at the young age of 12," Sporages said. "So later on in life, she was diagnosed with lung cancer and unfortunately died from it."
Mark Heimowitz of the American Cancer Society said the bill would also add e-cigarettes to Massachusetts' workplace smoking ban.
"We know that 95 percent of adult smokers start smoking before the age of 21, so if we can put off the time they start until they are 21, the likelihood of them starting drops dramatically," he said.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports