A month after Maumee City Council debated raising the age to legally buy tobacco in the city, the issue remains stalled.

Tom Wagener, chairman of the council’s code committee, has not scheduled another hearing on the issue. He said proponents of the plan to raise the age from 18 to 21 are waiting to see if more community support comes forward.

Council members have been split on the issue.

In an effort to nudge the issue along, a doctor and medical school professor who campaigns for such issues spoke in favor of the proposal during a recent event at St. Luke’s Hospital. Dr. Rob Crane, a family medicine physician who teaches at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, is the president and founder of Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation. He emphasized the importance of fighting for tobacco restrictions at the local level where, unlike Washington, it can be easier to win support for such measures.

“You will have to convince four, five, six people on city council,” Dr. Crane said to the crowd.

That is what the local supporters have tried to do in Maumee. Amy Thompson, a University of Toledo health professor, is one of the main local supporters who was at the presentation. She and her public health students have led a campaign to increase the tobacco-buying age to 21 in Maumee, Waterville, Oregon, and Sylvania.

“We all live in different parts of the city,” she said in conclusion to the presentation. “Send letters to mayors and city council members. This is your chance to make a difference. I’m confident this is just the beginning for us.”

Maumee Mayor Rich Carr introduced the ordinance Feb. 15 to the Maumee City Council. It was sent to the council’s code committee, which tabled the matter after its March 4 hearing at which local convenience store and cigar shop employees spoke out against the change.

The local business owners complained the ordinance would unfairly target them and damage their business. They also argued the ordinance would be ineffective because teen smokers could drive to nearby towns without such an ordinance, including Perrysburg, to buy tobacco instead.

Code committee members asked advocates of the ordinance for more research to support their position.

Mayor Carr also proposed the city consider creating a minimum age to purchase electronic cigarettes. Currently there are no age restrictions for those products. The mayor wants to require customers to be 21 to buy them.

Contact Matt Thompson at: mthompson@theblade.com, 419-356-8786, or on Twitter at @mthompson25.

First Published April 4, 2016, 4:00 a.m.