California youth aching for a smoke would have to wait until they are 21 years old before they can pick up the habit if the state legislature passed a measure prolonging the minimum age to smoke by three years.

State Senator Ed Hernandez, a Democrat from Azusa, introduced Senate Bill 151, which would change the minimum legal smoking age in the state from 18 to 21 to help discourage tobacco use among minors.

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Hernandez said on Friday that cigarette manufacturers are aware that people could become addicted to tobacco if they begin at a young age. The senator added the proposed law will make it way tougher for huge tobacco players to market their products to children and get another batch of young people lighting up cigarettes that will eventually lead to their deaths.

About 36,000 children in California begin smoking every year, according to the American Lung Association.

The senator points out that the state would be the first to place the legal smoking age at 21, as similar efforts in Utah, New Jersey, Maryland and Colorado have all been shelved.

The Golden State has a history of leading anti-smoking regulation and legislation. In 1990, California's San Luis Obispo was the first city around the world to prohibit all public smoking indoors. Eight years later, the state ordered a smoking ban in nearly all enclosed workspaces, including traditional smoking haunts - casinos and bars.

Currently, 4 in 5 Americans are spared from secondhand smoke as tens of thousands of municipalities have a complete ban against smoking in bars, restaurants and hospitality establishments - or a mix of the three - said the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation.

The tobacco lobby has opposed any anti-smoking measures but cigarette maker Altria - which sells brands like PhilipMorrisUSA - declined to comment on the proposed law.

A company spokesman did tell a Los Angeles newspaper that states should wait for the Food and Drug Administration and health institutions to review evidence on minimum age laws before proceeding with the regulatory process.

Tagscalifornia, smoking, minimum smoking age, Sen. Ed Hernandez