You now have to be as old in the Garden State to buy cigarettes as you do to buy alcohol.

Governor Chris Christie officially signed the bill on Friday, making New Jersey now just the third state in the U.S. to require citizens to be 21 or older to purchase cigarettes and chewing tobacco, joining California and Hawaii. The previous smoking age was 19.

Christie tells ABC News, "By raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21, we are giving young people more time to develop a maturity and better understanding of how dangerous smoking can be and that it is better to not start smoking in the first place."

Maine is likely to be next in line to sign a similar bill, according to CNN.

SOURCES: ABC News; CNN

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