Proposals to raise smoking age limit unveiled

The government has unveiled proposals aimed at cracking down on smoking amongst teenagers.

The proposals include plans to increase the minimum legal age to purchase tobacco and imposing tougher sanctions on retailers who persist in selling cigarettes to under-age teens.

Around 9% of children aged between 11 and 15 smoke. The government said that raising the legal age for smoking from 16 to 17 or 18 would make it easier for retailers to spot under-age smokers and lead to a fall in the number of teenagers who get addicted to nicotine and continue to smoke into adulthood.

It is also hoped that a rise in the legal age would help to reinforce the dangers of smoking to young people.

The government also said that evidence showed that nearly 70% of 11 to 15-year-old smokers said that they purchased their cigarettes from small shops, which suggests that existing sanctions for retailers who break the law, such as advisory visits or written warnings, are not stringent enough to act as a deterrent to rogue retailers.

The proposals include plans to toughen these sanctions, including the introduction of prohibition orders banning repeat offenders from selling tobacco.

Public Health Minister Caroline Flint said: "Smoking is dangerous at any age, but the younger people start, the more likely they are to become life-long smokers and to die early. Someone who starts smoking aged 15 is three times more likely to die of cancer due to smoking than someone who starts in their late twenties.

"Access to cigarettes by under-sixteens is not as difficult as it should be and this is partly due to retailers selling tobacco to those under the legal age. If a particular shop is known locally as the place for children and teenagers to easily buy tobacco, we want to stop that shop selling it."

The proposals were cautiously welcomed by anti-smoking charity Action on Smoking and Health. Amanda Sanford, ASH Research Manager, said it made no sense to allow 16-year-olds to buy tobacco but not alcohol, as smoking caused early addiction and long-term health damage.

"This is a modestly useful step, provided that the new legal age is properly enforced by local councils and the proposed new licensing system is adopted and used," she said.

"But in the long run, all the evidence shows that the way to stop young people from smoking is to persuade adults to quit. If smoking is no longer seen as a desirable adult thing to do, children will not start to smoke."

(KMcA/SP)