Ohio residents might have to wait until the age of 21 to be able to light a cigarette if state lawmakers pass Senate Bill 121.

The bill, introduced by Sen. Grace Drake, R-Solon, would increase the age from 18 to 21 at which a person can purchase cigarettes and other tobacco products. In addition, the bill would prohibit people under 21 from smoking or possessing tobacco products.

To promote enforcement of tobacco laws, the bill also would transfer responsibility for licensing retail and wholesale tobacco operations from the tax commissioner to boards of health.

It also would authorize the boards to impose monetary penalties for violations of the laws pertaining to tobacco operations.

Under Ohio law, tobacco retailers are required to obtain licenses for tax purposes.

S.B. 121 also would require retailers to have a license to sell tobacco, said Dr. Rob Crane, president of Tobacco to 21, the main proponent of the legislation. Retailers caught selling tobacco to people under 21 first would be fined but could have their licenses revoked after repeat offenses.

Crane said retailers would be more motivated to sell tobacco only to those 21 and above if they faced the costly possibility of losing their licenses.

The purpose of including the licensing change in the bill is to make smoking laws more comprehensive and enforceable, said Michelle Chippas, project director for Tobacco-Free Ohio.

Simply raising the legal smoking age, would not be enough to help snuff out underage smoking, she said.

Smokers already between 18 and 21 will not be affected, however, because of a grandfather clause exempting them, Crane said.

Sen. Drake introduced a similar bill last year, but the bill was stopped in committee.

The bill's proponents want to transfer regulatory responsibility to health boards because they would be more inclined to enforce smoking laws than the police, Chippas said.

In addition, under the bill, tobacco retailers who sell to people under 21 would face civil rather than criminal charges.

This would further the ease of enforcement and avoid inundating courts with extra cases, she said.

Civil penalties already are used for doctors and other licensed professionals, said Mike Carroll, a legislative aide for Drake.

The bottom line for anti-smoking groups, however, is to prevent tobacco use, especially by younger people.

"We feel the problem is that tobacco products are so easily accessible," Chippas said.

According to information from the Centers for Disease Control, in 1997 Ohio has the third-highest smoking rate in the country, at 28.5 percent. The national average was 23.5 percent.

Tobacco use among youths has become a concern for many groups as well. According to the Ohio Department of Education, cigarette use by high school students in the last 30 days jumped from 29.7 percent in 1993 to 34.5 percent in 1997.

Organizations such as Tobacco-Free Ohio and Tobacco to 21 are supporting S.B. 121 in hopes that this trend can be reversed.

The bill does have opponents, including some Ohio University students who find it unfair to legal adults.

"If they're going to push that to 21, they should push everything to 21," senior Kelly McFarland said.

McFarland argued that if the legal smoking age is bumped to 21, other rights, such as voting, should be as well.

"They're going to criminalize a whole class of people," junior Paul Jacobson said.

The bill, which was introduced April 8, is still in its early stages and has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Ann Liotta, legislative aide for Committee Chairman Robert Latta, said hearings have not yet been scheduled and would not begin until at least next week.