Selling cigarettes to under-21s should be banned, experts demand
YOUNG adults should be banned from buying cigarettes, experts said today.
Boris Johnson's new Government should up the legal age limit to buy fags from 18 to 21 - to crack down on young people smoking.
That's the message from campaigners, who say preventing young people starting is crucial if the Government wants to achieve its goal of wiping out smoking in the next 11 years.
It comes as yet another study reveals banning under-21s from buying cigarettes stops them taking up the habit.
Earlier this year, a leading doctor also called for the legal age of sale to be increased, saying the move would help curb peer pressure in schools.
The All Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health has also suggested raising the age of sale of tobacco to 21, "to discourage uptake by those most at risk".
Experts say it would help stop young "social smokers" developing full-blown addictions.
Stopping starting easier than quitting
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of the health charity Action On Smoking And Health (Ash), told The Sun: "Almost no-one starts smoking after the age of 21, and not starting is much easier than quitting.
"Increasing the age of sale to 21 is a key step towards achieving the Government goal of ending smoking by 2030.
"Smoking is a lethal addiction with two thirds of those experimenting with cigarettes going on to become regular smokers, and only one in three successfully quitting in the long-term."
Age ban saves young smokers
This week a team of scientists in the US shared their findings, adding weight to the argument for increasing the age of sale to 21.
They found raising the legal age of sale from 18 to 21, was associated with a 39 per cent reduction in the odds of social smokers, taking up the habit.
The reduction was even greater (50 per cent) in those who had close friends who smoked when they were 16.
Almost no-one starts smoking after the age of 21, and not starting is much easier than quitting. Increasing the age of sale to 21 is a key step towards achieving the Government goal of ending smoking by 2030
Deborah Arnott, Action On Smoking And Health
Lead author, Dr Abigail Friedman at the Yale School of Public Health, said: "This research indicates that a 'social multiplier' effect may amplify the impact of tobacco-21 laws.
"While these policies were associated with a 39 per cent drop in the odds of regular smoking overall, the reduction was larger among young people whose friends were likely to smoke before tobacco-21 laws were adopted.
"As peer smoking is a critical predictor of youth smoking, this study suggests that tobacco-21 laws may help reduce smoking among those most susceptible.
"This result supports raising the age of sale to 21 as a means to reduce young adult smoking and improve public health."
As of June this year, 16 US states and more than 400 localities in the US have raised the age of sale of tobacco to 21.
Stamping out peer pressure
Earlier this year, Dr Nicholas Hopkinson, a specialist at Imperial College London and the British Lung Foundation, argued in the BMJ that the move would make it "harder for children to obtain cigarettes and would take the legal age beyond school age".
Achieving a smoke-free generation - where smoking rates are below five per cent in all groups in society - is a "key public health goal".
Dr Hopkinson, who is also chair of Ash, said helping existing smokers quit is important.
But, he added: ";The most vital element is to prevent young people from starting in the first place."
Most smokers start as kids, and two thirds of those who try smoking will go on to become regular smokers.
The habit is one of the leading causes of preventable deaths in Britain, drastically increasing a smoker's risk of various cancers and heart disease.
Dr Hopkinson said increasing the legal age to buy cigarettes will help make it harder for kids buying and selling them at school.
"Smoking is a contagious habit, transmitted within peer groups," he said.
"The age increase will protect younger children from exposure to older pupils who smoke."
Fall in smoking rates
When the UK increased the legal age from 16 to 18 in 2007, there was a fall in smoking rates among young people.
Dr Hopkinson and other campaigners said this proposed further increase could help reduce rates even further.
This week Government plans, unveiled by Health Secretary Matt Hancock, revealed smoking is set to be stamped out entirely in Britain in the next 11 years.
Encouraging smokers to quit or take up vaping will help Brits stub out their fags by 2030, it's hoped.
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The new plans will coincide with a crackdown on illegal black market cigarettes.
Smoking rates have halved in 35 years - with fewer than one in six adults now taking up the habit.
But health chiefs now want to "finish the job" by ridding the country of smoking for good.