Public health minister Caroline Flint has recently unveiled plans to crack down on the numbers of teenagers who smoke.
Three significant plans are to raise the minimum legal age of buying tobacco from 16 to 17 or 18 and imposing tougher sanctions on retailers who persist in selling cigarettes to under-age teens. The legal age for the purchase of tobacco products has been 16 since 1908. Proposals to toughen up these sanctions include prohibition orders that will ban repeat offenders from selling tobacco. The introduction of prohibition orders would mean a major new penalty, particularly for shops who rely on tobacco sales for much of their turnover.
About nine per cent of children aged between 11 and 15 currently smoke and the Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use Among Young People in England Survey 2004 showed that nearly 70 per cent of 11 to 15 year old smokers say they buy their cigarettes from small shops such as newsagents and corner shops.
The current prosecution rates for the under-age sale of tobacco can be low, and although the maximum fine for breaching the under-age law is £3,500, fines are usually relatively small.
It is hoped that the changes would bring the legal age for purchasing tobacco into line with that of alcohol and it would reinforce the dangers of smoking to young people as well as helping retailers to comply with the law. It would also bring England and Wales into line with Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the US.
Public Health Minister Caroline Flint commented:
"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 16s 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.
"These proposals demonstrate our determination to reduce the number of teenagers from smoking thereby reducing the number of people with preventable diseases and the incidence of health inequalities."
The Government is inviting views from the public, the retail industry, local authorities and stakeholders on the proposals.
Ron Gainsford, Chief Executive of the Trading Standards Institute commented:
"The Trading Standards Institute strongly supports the proposal to change the age limit on sales of tobacco. The Institute has previously called for such action based upon the growing concerns about the health risks of smoking among children and teenagers.
"The Institute also believe that changing the age of sale in line with the age limit on, for example, alcohol sales will help eliminate confusion among retailers.
"Across the Country,Trading Standards colleagues already do an enormous amount of work to help educate and inform retailers of their responsibilities to comply with the law across the whole range of age-restricted products. However, in 2004-5, some 117 retailers were still successfully prosecuted for selling cigarettes to children under 16, receiving penalties ranging from a conditional discharge to fines of up to £1,000.
"The Trading Standards Institute therefore believe that changing the age of sale for tobacco , combined with the proposal for stronger penalties against the minority of shopkeepers who repeatedly make illegal underage sales, would make it significantly more difficult for young people to purchase cigarettes."
The consultation will run from Monday 3rd July to Monday 9th October 2006.
Those who wish to submit their views should email underagesales@dh.gsi.gov.uk or write to:
Age of Sale Consultation,
Health Improvement Directorate,
Department of Health, Room 712,
Wellington House,
133 -155 Waterloo Road,
London SE1 8UG
