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Scott2006

Public Health Minister Shona Robison will today announce that the minimum age for buying cigarettes is to be increased from 16 to 18.

The move is the culmination of plans set in motion by Andy Kerr, the health minister in the previous executive.

He said he wanted to increase the age limit as a way of preventing young people from becoming addicted to nicotine early in life.

A consultation exercise by the executive found widespread support for the move among health experts, local authorities and the tobacco firms themselves.

England and Wales have already announced that they will increase the age limit to 18 from October 1, but the decision north of the border was delayed because of the Holyrood election.

Ms Robison will announce that Scotland is following suit during an engagement in Dundee today.

Last night, both pro and anti-smoking campaigners welcomed the move. But they warned it must be backed up by a publicity campaign and strict sanctions against shopkeepers who flout the law.

Maureen Moore OBE, chief executive of ASH Scotland, which lobbies for tobacco control, said: "Scotland has the highest rate of young smokers in Britain so I hope this will help reduce the numbers of young people taking up smoking. The move sends a clear message about the health hazards of tobacco use and also brings Scotland into line with the rest of Britain."

Ms Moore pointed to a report which last week showed that 82% of 15- year-olds and nearly half of 13-year-olds who smoke claimed to buy their cigarettes from a shop.

She said that cigarette licensing, along the lines of alcohol licensing, should be introduced.

She said: "If the new purchase age is to do any good then effective enforcement of the law, backed by tobacco licensing, is vital."

"Retailers who sell cigarettes to anyone under age must be properly penalised. Licensing means licence suspension and ultimately revocation for repeated violation can be used as enforcement tools as well as implementing a system of fines.

"Licensing would also help the targeting and funding of enforcement efforts. Adequate resources must also be made available to ensure proper enforcement and to run campaigns to back the change."

The Scottish Grocers' Federation, which represents some 5500 stores, called on the executive to introduce free national proof of age cards as a measure against intimidation or abuse of staff.

SGF chief executive John Drummond said: "Proof of age is vital to ensuring that community stores are safe places for consumers and staff alike.

"Reforming the age to smoke continues Scotland's progressive leadership in this area but it must not be done at the expense of the safety of shop workers.

"With 16 and 17-year-olds set to lose their ability to smoke overnight, it is shop workers, not the police or politicians, who will be expected to enforce the law."

Neil Rafferty, spokesman for Forest, which campaigns against smoking restrictions, said the new rules must be effectively policed.

He said: "We've got no problem with raising the age limit to 18 because cigarettes are not for children. The problem is that the existing age limit has not been enforced."

He said the number of prosecutions "is pitifully low and so unless there is a proper enforcement regime to back up this new age limit, then you may as well raise it to 118".
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The above is from The Herald website

You can drive a car at 17. You can drink alcohol in a pub as part of a meal if with your parents. You can get married and have children at 16. When ID cards are brought in by the UK Labour Party - will young people have to show them to an unqualified and unknowledgeable shop worker? Can the police demand to see a young person's ID card if they believe they see someone under 18 smoking in the near future?

Is it only the fact that 18 year olds can vote that stops the next step in smoking control?
A la Methodone Method... which is... you may only be allowed to buy cigarettes if you can prove to your doctor that you are physically emotionally and mentally addicted to nicotine and all the other ingredients of flamable tobacco and can produce a note from your doctor or are registered as an addict with your local store.

It's a drip drip drip of small freedoms disappearing that will change laws long before it changes the lives of poorer sections of our community while overpaid politicians increase police numbers and ask them to police responsibly while introducing petty laws that in many circumstance will be counter-productive.
How many politicians does it take to crack a walnut? If they can't crack it with a hammer - they would change the law that you need a larger hammer if that doesn't do it the law changes that you need a sledge hammer if that fails the law changes so you need a pile-driver. In the end they crack the walnut and all that is left is a middle-class cosy morality and a million more law breakers and another stop on a journey of harrassment for the youth that are perceived to be poor.
Only those frightened rigid of being collared by the police will take notice of this law. Do we really want a youth that can't throw a cigarette away if cornered by the police - as that would be a £50 fine and can't get caught with a cigarette as that is only allowed for those of voting age? What are they supposed to do? Swallow it - or take a ticking off from an overworked PC?

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SLG · Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:30 pm Post subject:

Have to agree with the comments in the Herald on this one. If a 17 year old wants to smoke in a way that doesn't affect anyone else, they should be allowed to. I am very much in favour of more being done to stop kids under 16 starting to smoke, but at the end of the day, if an adult (>16) wants to smoke in their own personal space, they should be allowed to.

Abieuan · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 11:29 pm Post subject:

pogofish · On A Journey (500 Miles) Joined: 10 May 2006 Posts: 38

Aventinian · Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 6:28 pm Post subject:

I generally think that we should stop mollycoddling people up to higher and higher ages.
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