British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has proposed raising the legal age for buying cigarettes in England until it applies to the entire population
From
SYLVIA HUI Associated Press
October 4, 2023, 9:47 am ET
• 3 min reading
LONDON – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday proposed raising the legal age for buying cigarettes in England by a year each year until it is eventually illegal for the entire population and hopefully phases out smoking among young people.
Unveiling his plan at the Conservative Party’s annual conference, Sunak said he wanted to “stop teenagers from smoking cigarettes in the first place”.
It is currently banned across the UK from selling cigarettes or tobacco products to anyone under the age of 18
Sunak’s office said the gradual changes would prevent children turning 14 this year and those younger now from ever being legally sold cigarettes in England.
If Parliament approves the proposal, the law change would only apply in England – not Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
“People turn to cigarettes at a young age. “Four out of five smokers started smoking by the age of 20,” he said. “Later, the vast majority try to quit smoking… If we could break this vicious circle, if we could stop it from starting, we would be on the safe side of eliminating the leading cause of preventable death and disease in our country. “
The government said smoking would not be criminalized and the gradual changes mean anyone who can legally buy cigarettes now will not be prevented from doing so in the future.
The number of smokers in the UK has fallen by two-thirds since the 1970s, but according to official figures, around 6.4 million people in the country still smoke – or around 13% of the population.
The British government raised the legal age for selling tobacco from 16 to 18 in 2007. This reduced the prevalence of smoking among 16 and 17-year-olds by 30%, Sunak’s office said.
Health experts welcomed the Prime Minister’s plan to steadily raise the legal smoking age. A similar measure was approved in New Zealand last year.
“This government’s plan to introduce a ‘smoke-free generation’ law could become its defining legacy and right a centuries-old wrong because tobacco products are the only legally available commodity that, when used as intended, will kill more than half of their lifelong users. ” said Lion Shahab, an academic who co-leads the tobacco and alcohol research group at University College London.
Sunak also said his government would introduce measures to restrict the availability of e-cigarettes to children. Currently selling e-cigarettes to children under 18 is illegal in the UK, but officials say e-cigarette use among young people has tripled in the last three years and more children are now vaping than smoking.
Officials will consider options including restricting flavored e-cigarettes and regulating packaging and store displays to make the products less attractive to young people.
Shares of tobacco companies fell after Wednesday’s announcement. Shares in Dunhill and Lucky Strike, which owns British American Tobacco, fell from almost unchanged to 1% immediately after the announcement, and shares in Imperial Brands fell 2.4% after Sunak’s speech.