PRINCETON, WV (WVNS)–A bill in the West Virginia Senate aims to change the age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21.

“The vaping crisis that we’re seeing these days and all these problems we have around that, this really helps streamline the effectiveness and enforcement at the local level.”

Greg Puckett, Executive Director of Community Connections said this bill can help the health and well-being of both adults and children.

Another proposal included in the bill will help children by making it illegal for an adult to smoke in a vehicle with a child under the age of 16.

Puckett said this can hold whoever is smoking in the car accountable for putting toxic chemicals in a place where the child has no choice but to breathe in the dangerous air.

“When we look at the society of the addiction that we have, we start understanding that it starts at a young age, and when you have a precursor exposure to the basic form of addiction, Nicotine addiction, tobacco, vaping, whatever, then we know that those young people are going to be more likely to be addicted later in life,” Puckett said.

The bill is currently in the finance committee, if it passes there, it heads to the Senate floor.