Buying tobacco will be raised to 18 later this year

AJ · 01-01-2007, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Ministers have revealed that the legal age for buying tobacco will be raised to 18 later this year.

Public health minister Caroline Flint announced on Monday that the minimum age will be put up from 16 in October as part of a package of measures to try to reduce smoking levels.

The ban on smoking in public places will come into force in England and Wales this year, while the government has also unveiled its latest new year anti-cigarette advertising campaign.

Flint said she wanted to bring down the number of 11 to 15-year-olds who smoke, currently estimated at around nine per cent.

"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," she pointed out.

"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 20s.

"Buying cigarettes has been too easy for under 16s and this is partly due to retailers selling tobacco to those under the legal age.

"The law change demonstrates our determination to stop this and to reduce the number of teenagers who smoke.

"This, in turn, will reduce the number of people with preventable diseases and the incidence of health inequalities."

Opinions...?

[A] · 01-02-2007, 02:07 AM

Good! It won't stop anyone under 18 from buying nevertheless it's good!

Lex · 01-02-2007, 02:26 AM

quality!

Smoking is dirty. Kids are too impressionable at the age of 16 and it should be changed

Milky Parfait · 01-20-2007, 11:54 AM

I don't see how raising the age will prevent them from smoking? They would just get cigarettes, or get someone else to buy it for them, like they usually do.
What the government needs to be doing is bringing them into cancer wards to see everyone dying of lung cancer, maybe that'll shock them into stopping.
I think they should also educate parents about letting their kids smoke. My mum found out that I smoked at about 13 and she never stopped me from doing it. The first time I told her she said she didn't believe me and told me to proove it so I smoked a fag infront of her. Perfect example of how not to teach us values?!?!?!? And look at me now, I stink of fags all the time, I have a bad throat every morning, I get out of breath etc etc. Kids, its really not worth it, believe me!!

Kane · 01-20-2007, 12:43 PM

All i have to say on this subject is.

HaHa

dionysia · 01-20-2007, 05:39 PM

People under 16 smoke anyway so I don't see what raising the age limit is going to do.

AJ · 01-20-2007, 05:46 PM

well the basic idea is for shop keepers to now serve 16 year olds and not 14 year olds... most 16 year olds can get away with looking 18 and 14 could get away looking 16... so no... it should stop the younger kids from buying...

i know you cant stop kids asking adults to buy it for them... but its still a step forward.

mizz_bk · 01-21-2007, 11:16 AM

Yeh true, In front of our school so many kids are waiting for someone older to come along and buy them cigarettes. Although this can't be stopped completely its a positive step. They should also educate people more in schools and have actual examples (stories) of what happened to people that have smoked in the past. In order to make more people aware of the consiquences, it could wake some youngsters up.
Bhavisha
xXxmwahxXx

fizzwings · 10-19-2007, 12:38 AM

I still find this quite odd. There's 16 and 17 year olds out there who are already addicted and got addicted when it was still legal for them to buy cigarettes...

The young smokers I've met have generally been the most stupid people I've ever met.

I wonder if we'll see much difference in the number of young smokers in a few years.