Plan to stop teenage smoking

Smoking Age May Rise

The Government is considering raising the age at which cigarettes may legally be bought from 16 to 18 in an effort to deter teenage smoking.

The proposal is likely to be discussed at an anti-smoking seminar in London on Monday, attended by the Public Health Minister, Tessa Jowell. During the meeting, she will listen to advice from foreign governments and experts in tobacco control.

Ministers may also discuss an American-style ban on smoking in public places and the introduction of tougher penalties for shopkeepers who sell to under-age smokers.

There has been growing concern at the continuing high rates at which children, particularly girls, are taking up smoking.

At present it is an offence for shopkeepers to sell cigarettes to children under 16. They can be fined up to £2,000 for doing so.

Ban on Adverts and Sponsorship

The Government is already committed to banning tobacco advertising and sponsorship of events by sports companies. In May, the Health Secretary, Frank Dobson, announced a ban on the sponsorship of sports events by the tobacco industry.

The Tobacco Manufacturers Association, the industry's umbrella group, is unhappy at the prospect of a higher age limit. It said it seemed ridiculous in an age when you could marry at sixteen and join the army at seventeen.

But the anti-smoking group, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), applauded the suggestion of a rise in the age limit. "This would certainly be a good move, and has already been done in the United States," said the director of ASH, Clive Bates.

Most long-term smokers take up the habit before the age of 18 and barely anyone starts smoking once they have passed their early 20s, he pointed out.

"But it is only one piece in a much bigger jigsaw, which includes banning all advertising and promotion, raising the price and having plain packets dominated by warnings," he added.

• The steady decline of smoking through the 1970s and 1980s stopped in the early part of the decade, prompting a spate of anti-smoking advertisements.
• Last year 28% of men and 26% of women smoked. The target set by the Conservative Government was 20% for both sexes by the end of the decade.
• The rate of women dying from smoking-related diseases is increasing - one woman in 1995 was dying every 12 minutes around the world.
• Tobacco-related deaths will almost treble from three million in 1990 to 8.4 million in 2020, making it the largest health problem in the world.
• Tobacco advertising has not been seen on television screens in Britain for decades. There are now calls to ban it altogether.
• Increased tax on cigarettes has been a feature of the Budget for the last three years.
• Cigarette companies in the US last month agreed to pay £225 billion over the next 25 years into a fund for sick smokers.
• Taking a lead from America, 47 British smokers suffering from lung cancer took legal action for the first time for compensation against tobacco companies earlier this month.