Health groups critical of new smoking age By James P. Sweeney COPLEY NEWS SERVICE SACRAMENTO - When a West Hollywood legislator and a powerful doctor's lobby launched a drive earlier this month to raise the state's legal smoking age to 21, some prominent allies in the war on tobacco were conspicuously absent. The proposal, which could make California the first state to outlaw cigarette sales to 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds, immediately drew national attention, including a poll that showed broad support for the idea. Amid the applause, however, representatives of the state's heart, lung and cancer associations were sitting on...
