Judge blocks Topeka ordinance raising age to buy tobacco products

Younger adults will still be able to buy cigarettes within Topeka city limits - at least for a little bit longer.

Shawnee Co. judge Franklin Theis issued a temporary restraining order Thursday preventing the City from implementing its new ordinance which raised the legal age for buying tobacco products to 21, according to Spencer Duncan, who is representing the Kansas Vaping Assn.

The organization is assisting with the case filed by The Vape Bar and Puffs-N-Stuff.

Duncan said a hearing is set for February 1 at 1:30 p.m.

The ordinance had gone into effect Thursday. The injunction returns the age to buy tobacco products, including cigarettes, chew, and e-cigarettes to 18.

Despite not being able to buy tobacco products, the ordinance would not prevent people between 18-20 from using them.