Legal age for buying cigarettes rises to 18 as ban improves health of bar staff

12 April 2012

A new law making it illegal for under-18s to buy tobacco comes into force today.

The legal age for buying tobacco rises from 16 to 18, bringing it into line with alcohol.

Health campaigners welcomed the move, saying it would be easier for retailers and customers to follow the law.

But critics accused the Government of a "woefully inadequate" advertising campaign, saying only one in five 16 to 18-year-olds knew about the change.

The Department of Health hopes the move will cut the number of teenage smokers and has promised a hard crackdown on retailers who flout the law.

The new law comes into force as the first survey of the effect of the smoking ban reveals a dramatic improvement in air quality and a boost in trade.

The overall conclusion of the survey shows that smoke-free premises have been good for health - and business.

Researchers from the Tobacco Control Collaborating Centre in Warwick visited 59 establishments around the country in June and again in August.

They found staff exposed to harmful levels of second hand smoke had fallen by 95 per cent.

Now the legal age to buy cigarettes has been raised, show owners will have to display signs in their windows and could face fines or prosecution if they sell tobacco to those under-age.

A spokesman for the British Retail Consortium said it supported a move to bring tobacco in line with alcohol, fireworks and glue.

"Retailers are well aware of the change and have been doing their bit to inform customers," he said.

"But, from today, we will see how successful the Government's promised campaign has been in preventing stores becoming conflict flashpoints as shop staff say "no" to 16 and 17-year-olds who have been able to buy cigarettes previously."

The Association of Convenience Stores, which represents around 33,000 local shops, criticised the Government's "largely internet-based" advertising campaign for shoppers.

Its chief executive James Lowman said: "The Government's communication campaign has been woefully inadequate.

"This is a substantial change in the law that will lead to thousands of 16 to 18-year-olds and even more over 18s being asked for proof of age.

"Awareness appears to be worryingly low - research shows that one in five 16 to 18-year-olds are not aware of this change.

"The risk that low awareness presents is that people will blame the retailer for refusing to sell them a product they were previously able to buy.

"This will lead to flash points, abuse, intimidation and even violence."

Amanda Sandford, research manager at the campaign group Ash, welcomed the move but said the key to success would be proper enforcement.

"It is imperative that retailers fully comply with the law and that enforcement officers make frequent checks on premises selling tobacco."

Simon Clark, director of the smokers' lobby group Forest, said it supported measures to discourage children from smoking, but accused the Government of sending out mixed messages.

"You're considered old enough to have sex at 16, drive a car and join the army at 17, but the Government doesn't want you to smoke until you're 18," he said.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said: "We ran a very targeted age of sale awareness campaign, aimed at the primary audience of retailers and 16 to 17-year-old smokers, who represent approximately 0.5 per cent of the population.

"It is important that we spend taxpayers' money wisely on targeting the key audiences on this issue.

"The smokefree campaign had a target audience of approximately 40 million people and was therefore on a much larger scale.

"The age of sale legislation shows our commitment to continue to drive down smoking rates in the UK as smoking remains the number one cause of ill health and early death."

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