BIO International Startup Stadium is being held virtually this week, but that did not prevent three Phoenix bioscience startups from strutting their stuff at the “Shark Tank”-like competition.

Teenagers who are determined can usually find a way to get their hands on forbidden fruit, but the Tobacco 21 initiative—which would raise the age of purchasing tobacco products and nicotine-containing vaping products in Indiana to 21— could possibly reduce the number of teens who smoke, as well as the number of potential adult smokers who can’t quit because their habits are so well established.

Indiana has a higher-than-national-average number of smokers. Aside from the health issues that presents for individuals, tobacco users cost the state an estimated $3.17 billion annually in lost productivity and the average family $1,000 annually in taxes to cover medical costs. Tobacco 21 aims to address those issues.

"Tobacco 21," an initiative aimed at making products with nicotine less accessible for Indiana’s young people, would go a long way toward improving the state’s physical and fiscal health, says a public health expert.