Cigarettes Sale Should Be Prohibited Under 21, Experts Ask – The Sun



[ad_1]

Young adults should be banned from buying cigarettes, experts said today.

The new government of Boris Johnson should raise the legal age to buy fetters from 18 to 21 years, to repress young people who smoke.

    The sale of cigarettes to people under 21 should be illegal, activists said: to save young lives

1

The sale of cigarettes to people under 21 should be illegal, activists said: to save young livesCredit: Getty – Contributor

This is the message of activists who say that it is crucial to prevent young people from starting, if the government wants to achieve its goal of eliminating smoking over the next 11 years.

Another study reveals that the ban on buying cigarettes under the age of 21 prevents them from getting in the habit.

Earlier this year, a senior physician also called for raising the legal age of sale, saying that this decision would help reduce peer pressure in schools.

The parliamentary group "All parliamentarians on smoking and health" also suggested raising the age of tobacco to 21, "to discourage adoption by the most exposed."

Stop more easily than stopping

Deborah Arnott, director 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 a lot easier than quitting.

"Raising the age of sale at age 21 is a key step in achieving the government's goal of ending smoking by 2030."

This measure would help prevent young social smokers from developing a habit in their own right, she said.

"Smoking is a deadly addiction, two-thirds of those who experiment with smoking become regular smokers, and only one in three has managed to quit in the long run," she added.

Age prohibition saves young smokers

This week, a team of US scientists presented its findings, adding weight to the argument for an increase in the age of sale to 21 years.

They found that increasing the legal age of sale from 18 to 21 years was badociated with a 39% reduction in social smokers' chances of getting in the habit.

The reduction was even greater (50%) among those who had close friends who smoked at age 16.

Almost no one starts smoking after the age of 21 and it's a lot easier not to start than to quit. Raising the age of the sale at age 21 is a key step to achieve the government's goal of ending smoking by 2030

Deborah Arnott, Action Against Smoking and Health

Lead author, Dr. Abigail Friedman of the Yale School of Public Health, said, "This study indicates that a" social multiplier "effect may amplify the impact of tobacco control laws.

"While these policies were badociated with a 39% decrease in odds of smoking regularly, the reduction was greater among youth whose friends were likely to smoke before the Tobacco Act was pbaded.

"Given that peer smoking is a key determinant of youth smoking, this study suggests that anti-smoking laws 21 could help reduce smoking among the most vulnerable.

"This result supports raising the age of sales to 21 as a way to reduce smoking among young adults and improve public health."

In June of this year, 16 American states and more than 400 American communities raised the age of tobacco to 21 years.

Eliminate peer pressure

Earlier this year, Dr. Nicholas Hopkinson, a specialist at Imperial College London and the British Lung Foundation, told the BMJ that this decision would make "more difficult getting cigarettes for kids and would exceed the legal age ".

Achieving a smoke-free generation – where the smoking rate is below 5% in all groups in society – is a "key goal of public health".

Dr. Hopkinson, who is also president of Ash, said it was important to help existing smokers quit.

But, he added: "The most important element is to prevent young people from starting."

Most smokers start out as children and two-thirds of those who have tried smoking will become regular smokers.

This habit is one of the leading causes of preventable death in Britain, greatly increasing the risk of various cancers and heart disease in smokers.

Dr. Hopkinson said that increasing the legal age to buy cigarettes would help make things more difficult for children who buy them and sell them at school.

"Smoking is a contagious habit, transmitted in peer groups," he said.

"The increase in age will protect young children from exposure to older students who smoke."

Decrease in smoking rates

When the United Kingdom raised the legal age of 16 to 18 in 2007, the rate of youth smoking declined.

Dr. Hopkinson and other activists said the proposed new increase could help further reduce rates.

This week, government plans unveiled by Health Secretary Matt Hanbad revealed that smoking will be completely stopped in Britain over the next 11 years.

Encouraging smokers to quit or take the steam train will help the British to deflate by 2030, it is hoped.

HEALTH ALERT

Parents are at increased risk of sudden death as temperatures rise to 38 ° C

The new plans will coincide with a crackdown on illegal black market cigarettes.

Smoking rates have halved in 35 years – with less than one in six adults now taking it.

But health officials now want to "finish the job" by permanently ridding the country of smoking.

[ad_2]
Source link