Patricia Doxsey is reporting for the Daily Freeman beginning Jan. 1, it will be illegal for Ulster County businesses to sell tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21. County lawmakers voted unanimously in May to raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21. Ulster County Executive Michael Hein signed the measure in June. He said the change will help deter young people from beginning to smoke and improve the overall health of Ulster County residents. The law puts makes Ulster one of more than a dozen localities statewide, including Orange, Rockland, Sullivan and Albany counties, that have raised the minimum age for tobacco purchases, according to the Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.