Challenge 21

ASH must think Christmas has come early.

Not only were they given an open goal to revive a failed bid to ban smoking in licensed pavement areas, recent proposals by the New Zealand government 'to create a smoke free generation' have also breathed new life into ASH's bid to increase the age of sale of tobacco in the UK from 18 to 21.

Talking about the New Zealand plan to ban the sale of tobacco to anyone born after 2004, CEO Deborah Arnott told Sky News:

"I think it is probably more than would be acceptable in this country but what we know is popular and would be accepted is increasing the age of sale from 18 to 21.

"That's supported by 62% of the public, it's supported by the majority of retailers, it's supported by an all-party group on smoking and health, it's supported by medical organisations, ASH and numerous others, and we know it's under consideration by the government.

"If you can make it more difficult for people under 21 to smoke that's a good idea, and when the age of sale was increased from 16 to 18 it resulted in a 30% reduction in the number of young people taking up smoking in that age group."

I didn't see the full interview so I don't know if any of these points were challenged by the Sky News presenter (I suspect not), but it's worth noting the following:

One, I find it hard to believe that raising the age of sale from 18 to 21 is supported by the "majority of retailers". I'd like to see the evidence that supports this claim but it would be like turkeys voting for Christmas.

Two, when Arnott said the idea is "supported by an all-party group on smoking and health" she forgot to mention that the All-Party Group on Smoking and Health is run by her own organisation ASH.

Three, you can't compare raising the age of sale from 16 to 18 to raising it again from 18 to 21 for one simple reason.

At the age of 16 or 17 you are still considered a child in the eyes of the law (even though you can have sex, join the army, drive a car or even vote in elections and referendums in some parts of the country).

From the age of 18 however even the government has to accept that you are officially an adult with all that entails.

Raising the age of sale to 21 would infantilise and discriminate against young adults at the very moment some politicians are trying to lower the voting age to 16.

Anyway it's clear we have a fight on our hands to challenge this because when Deborah Arnott says "it's under consideration by the government" what she means is "We're lobbying tooth and nail to have the measure included in the Government's new tobacco control plan."

Comments

[Misty]

" ... when the age of sale was increased from 16 to 18 it resulted in a 30% reduction in the number of young people taking up smoking in that age group"

Says who? I've always wondered who, exactly, is asking this question, and whether they've taken into account the fact that asking teenagers if they are doing/have done something which has just been made illegal might result in many of them - err - lying? How many teenagers, for example, would admit to a teacher/random researcher/parent (even their non-smoking friends, these days) etc, that they'd tried smoking, knowing that the moment they admitted it they'd be bombarded with army of finger-waggers and an endless queue of do-gooders trying to "help" them to tackle their "problems?" Much easier (and, to be honest, wiser) just to say they've never indulged, and avoid the hassle!

It's not as if, with smoking bans all over the place these days, anyone can sneak into all the places where youngsters used to gather to smoke and physically count them, is it? Youngsters' (and adults', for that matter) smoking spots are now much less easily visible than in the old days when you could pretty much guarantee that those having a surreptitious smoke could be reliably found behind the bike sheds!