Four out of five people want the legal age of smoking raised from 16 to 18, to deter youngsters from taking up the habit, a new report has found.
The IMC report, commissioned as part of BBC News' Healthy Britons poll, questioned over 1000 adults on a range of public health issues.
Of those questioned, 93% supported increasing and enforcing the penalties for selling tobacco to children and two-thirds said parents who consistently allow under-age children to smoke should face prosecution.
Over half thought smoking should be more expensive and three quarters wanted to increase anti-smoking campaigns.
A slight majority thought the age limit should be raised to 21.
What do you think of the findings? Should the legal age of smoking be raised? Do you think the government should try to change people's attitudes or is it a private matter?
This debate has now closed. Thank you for your comments.
Your comments:
I am a smoker who is trying to cut down, however, I really dislike the habbit and feel that smoking should be banned in all public areas. The age limit should be put up to at least 18, but what about the 16/17 year olds that are already hooked? I was at that age and im 28 now!
Jon Shearing, Bristol, England
When are we going to grow up? People will smoke what they want and at any age they want, whether it be six or sixty. Banning smoking would only make things harder for everyone, as then smoking would go underground. People have to want to stop and no-one can do a thing about it if they don't. Frankley I don't see the point of dropping or raising the age of smoking.
D.White, Nottinghamshire
Several people say that alcohol is worse then tobacco. To them I have two questions. If I choose not to drink alcohol and someone sits next to me with a pint of beer, do I passively drink? If I choose not to smoke and someone sits next to me with a cigarette, do I passively smoke?
Steve, Hampshire
Simple answer to that is kids always follow the norm. It is of course part of the UKs culture, that people will rather have a fag to get rid of their boredom instead of making the effort to do an activity that does not cost them their lives and money! Kids follow what grown ups do! Unless we make more of an effort to correct our mistakes we can't blame the kids or stop them from smoking.
Elsa, Manchester
I'm a 28 year old smoker and have been smoking for 16 years. I think the age should be raised to 18, the younger you are the more imressionable you are, raise the age!
Michelle Jeffray, Tiverton, Devon
Why? Do you really think it would make a difference? Kids at 10 and 12 are already smoking, if they can get hold of them now, adding another 2 years on the legal age is not going to change anything. It's the same with drink, you see them wandering the streets at 14 with cans of beer. The police do hardly anything apart from pour it away, do you really think they've got time to stop kids smoking when violent crimes and robberies are on the increase?
Craig, Preston, UK
I do not smoke but neither do I have a problem with others who do so. Like many others, though, I have a real problem with drinkers. Why is smoking always targeted but drinking never is? There are too many town centres in this country that are effectively out of bounds at weekends because of alcohol. They don't terrorise people because they've had a few cigarettes – they do it because they are fuelled on alcohol. Legislation on this should go hand-in-hand with legislation against alcohol. Increase the legal age to 21 for both, and tax both to the hilt, passing the proceeds to the NHS.
Sally, England,
Just ban it altogether – I am a smoker, but am amused that people think we would continue to buy cigarettes illegally just to feed our addiction. I don't want to be a smoker, and I especially don't want to have to buy the filthy things in back streets! All I need is a good kick up the backside and banning the infernal things would do just that!
AML, UK
Since almost every single smoker (myself included) becomes a nicoteine addict before they are 17, I'd say this is way overdue.
Ian, Brit in USA
The filth pumped out by diesel buses in our cities causes far more inconvenience to me than somebody having a fag in the street.
Chris, Rugby UK
Yes, the age should definitely be raised to 18. Almost everyone who smokes started at or before the age of sixteen and raising the age limit would allow them to make that decision at a more mature age. The irony is that kids start smoking so they can be like adults, but the only adults who smoke are the ones still hooked from when they were kids. Raise the age limit and they'll be very few smokers left in years to come.
Simon, West Sussex, UK
When will people realise that banning something has little overall effect? Drugs are banned, yet people still take them. Drink driving is banned, yet people still do it. And such will be the case with smoking. Yes, the age limit should be raised, and in conjunction the penalties for selling or supplying tobacco products to underage people should be much harsher. We can't blame kids for being sheep, but we can blame those who should know better from supplying them the tools to kill themselves slowly.
Luke Dawson, Horsham, UK
I think the money that will have to be spent to enforce the law would be better spent on education at a younger age (on the dangers of smoking).
Yosef, London
I have never even tried a cigarette and I am 27 years old, a lot of my friends smoked when we were younger but I never did. Why? Because I saw the consequences, I regularly had to visit my granddad in hospital from when I was about 10 years old spending Sunday afternoons in a stuffy hospital, it is terrible watching someone you care about smoke themselves to death and is something that will stay with me forever. To all those who think it is cool to smoke just think this before you next light up- seeing someone you love die from emphysema with gangrene which turns your legs black caused by smoking is pretty horrific and certainly not cool.
Sarah K, Upminster, Essex
You are either a smoker or a non-smoker. you are either for or against. I think people writing about banning it from public places, increasing the age limit etc are missing the point. We need to educate children from an early age (primary 7) that smoking is not cool. I started smoking at 13 ish, when I started secondary education as it was deemed "cool" – 17 years later I'm still smoking, albeit 4 or 5 a day but I'm still smoking. I will give up – but when? Who knows. Raising the age will not make a difference, there is always a shop that will sell to minors. I was getting them from the ice cream van – the same ice cream van that sells cigarettes to school kids on school ground at break time.
Yvonne, UK
If we are honest, fags and the lottery are the only way to tax the underclass, and getting them hooked young brings in the pennies and some of those dole cheques back home.
phillipellis, UK
I am a devout non-smoker, but even I can see the futility in raising the legal age. Does it work for any other age-limited activity? Of course not, it just makes the whole thing more taboo and exciting. Part of the thrill of underage drinking for me was getting served in the first place! The problem is, how do you stop it being perceived as an 'adult' thing to do without making it seem acceptable for children?
Anne-Marie, Stoke, UK
When you see the number of school aged kids, smoking on their way to school, and it is mainly girls, the age of ability to purchase should be raised to a minimum of 18. This should be part of a programme to eventually make the sale of tobacco from licensed premises only. People should only be allowed to purchase cigarettes by presenting the to, be issued national ID card. Smoking should be banned everywhere outside the private residencies.
Kevin, Bushey, UK
If kids are stupid enough to smoke, they will smoke regardless of the law. Just stop them doing it in public places such as restaurants and pubs please. Follow Ireland's excellent example.
Richard Bagnall, Cambridge, UK
Yes, raise it to 25. I hate to disillusion the cynics, but there are some of us out here who actually take some notice of the law. Just because some people will ignore whatever law we have, doesn't mean we should just give up. I waited till I was 16 before trying smoking, and if the limit was higher I would have waited longer. An increase in the legal age probably isn't a miracle cure-all solution, but smoking is so deeply engrained in society that nothing will work overnight. It's a small step that would do some good, so why not do it?
Chris, Bristol, UK
I think the legal smoking age should be raised to 18 years, because an 18yr old is less likely than a 16yr old to be pressured into smoking by their peers. Most 18yr olds have by then developed their own minds.
Miss Melanie Glegg, Bradford, West Yorkshire
There is a big emphasis on the government to make some effort to stop young people smoking, but there also has to be a bigger effort from shop keepers to school teachers to parents. The problem being with children is that if they want to smoke they will always find a way to get hold of cigarettes. Raising the age may sort this but it wont eradicate it. Stopping selling tobacco or raising the costs may help to, but in this type of situation it is a loose loose situation in that there is always going to be under age smokers
Kenneth Ferguson, Isle of Lewis, Scotland
Education must be the key to stopping anyone ever wanting to begin smoking. Mid-teens, is much too late! Start in primary schools, and teach children that this dirty smelly costly addiction kills!
Linda, UK
I'm sorry but I can't see the point! My brother started smoking at 11 – and he knew the age limit – if kids are going to smoke they will, whether it's legal or not.
Maxine, Peterborough, UK
Raising the age is pointless unless it is going to be seriously enforced. Many children under 16 blatantly smoke in public now with no action taken. All smoking in public should be banned completely. Why should I have to breathe toxic fumes when I go in or out of a shopping centre or hospital, or pass a smoker when out running? Aged 28, I started a new job in a workplace where staff smoked, and developed asthma within 2 weeks. Smoking was stopped 6 months later and I have had no problems since. Perhaps someone could design an enclosed hood system so that the smoker gets the full 'benefit' of the cigarette, without anyone else being affected!
Kevin, Oldham, UK
Let people smoke. It's their choice. It also helps with the pension crisis as smokers die early. How can you suddenly tell a 17 year old who is addicted to nicotine that they can not buy it now?
Luke pedhiou, newcastle
As an ex-smoker. I firmly believe that the age should be raised to 18 if not 21 (Which would mean raising the voting/age of consent to 21 again). Also, smokers should not have access to free medical treatment on the NHS. Yes, treatment should be available but smoking is avoidable and should no be treated as 'an accident'. When smoking is banned in public places then passive smoking will be reduced.
Bob Gee, Christchurch, UK
As I read some of these comments I am disgusted. Smokers are being treated worse than lepers. What is the problem? We have rights to smoke and I assure you, I will not stop smoking for anyone. by the way, raising the legal age will only encourage youngsters to start!
|D Drummond, West Lothian
This is a common sense idea that will hopefully have some success in making it difficult for younger children to procure cigarettes, whilst simultaneously making it even less socially acceptable to smoke than it already is.
Jonathan Walker, Leeds, England
So let's get this straight. You'll be able to marry at 16. You'll be able to sleep with your spouse. But you won't be able to light-up afterwards for another five. What is going on!!?
Dominic, London
Raising the legal age won't stop children from taking up smoking. Harsher penalties for those who sell – and those who simply supply (i.e. the adults who buy cigarettes for kids hanging around outside shops) – cigarettes to underage smokers is a better way forward.
Sue, Knebworth
Why stop there? Why not raise the age limit each year, therefore not stopping anyone who already does smoke, but discouraging those who are younger from taking it up. Although at first, this may not seem to have made an impact, when the age rises to 30+ it will be really easy to see if you are only 14!
Liz, Didcot, UK
I agree, at 16 kids aren't their own person, too many of their decisions are dictated by other people in their lives. Still, I believe the majority of 18 year olds find it far easier to say yes than no when offered a cigarette by a friend, it took me until I was 19 before saying no was easier than saying yes.
Leon Kehoe, Flitwick, England.
As a smoker who is trying to stop but finding it incredibly difficult I believe anything that is an incentive to stop is a good thing. Most definitely raise the smoking age, raise fines for selling to underage children and while you are at it make smoking illegal in public places.
Anon, London
Why not ban smoking itself, increasing the age of consent for smoking doesn't make a difference.
labris, Australia
YES ! Smoking should be banned in all public places, and its sale and use, to and by people below 21 shouldn't be allowed. I also think selling the cigarettes at very high prices will discourage youngsters from getting into the habit.
Malhar Khambete, Pune, INDIA
What's the point children as young as 10 ten smoke now, what punishment can be imposed on them? Nothing. Unless you stop smoking completely it's just another farce.
Marcus, Wales
I agree. the legal age should at least be 18. I doubt it would have affected my starting smoking, as I've learned prevention is better than cure!
GARETH, CAERPHILLY
Yes, it won't put off the 'hardcore' people who will smoke come-what-may. But if it puts off the slightly more conscientious people who may otherwise have caved in to peer pressure, then it will be more than worth it.
Matthew Hopps, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, UK
I'm a smoker and in favour of a ban! The way to go about it, is to continuously raise tobacco taxes until nobody is willing to pay any more. Making tobacco more expensive has proved so effective at reducing tobacco sales here in Germany, that the government has a large budget shortfall – the amount of tax they thought would be raised was more than offset by the drop in consumption. Great!
Michael Williamson, Leipzig, Germany
Yes! Raise it to 18, ban it in all public places and raise the price of a packet of cigarettes to £8.00! Anything to get this smelly habit out of my face in pubs and clubs.
Jon Harrison, Hartington, West Derbyshire
If you raise the age limit I think it will encourage more children to take up smoking not less. Children will just see it as a more grown up thing to do and people will continue selling to them. I agree with many here that it would be wiser to punish the shops for selling them to the under aged instead. I think the three offences and you lose your licence permanently sounds perfectly reasonable.
Jamie Ferguson, Edinburgh and Amsterdam
The apparent wish for more authoritarian measures against smoking is just a knee-jerk response from people unable to control their own lives. I don't smoke, I never have. So if you want to stop smoking then you choose to do so and not expect others to do it for you. There needs to be more persuasion and less of the law. The authorities cannot make the existing laws pertaining to smoking work so what use are even more laws?
Nigel Wilson, Buckingham, UK
I believe that this debate is an irrelevant smokescreen to divert public attention from the real issue of banning smoking in all public places, both indoors and outside. When I am walking along the street and I suddenly become surrounded by somebody else's tobacco smoke, I feel that I have been assaulted. Let us follow the example of New York and Eire, but also ban smoking from everywhere except private homes.
Bob Wright, London
Raise the smoking age to 18, ban smoking in ALL public places and at work. Raise fines for selling cigarettes to underage people and fine parents of underage smokers.
Mike Jones, Maidenhead, Berkshire
Yes! I'm not naive enough to think it will stop all underage smoking but it will definitely discourage it. The lungs of these children are still growing…..they shouldn't be able to legally destroy their body until at least 21!
Maureen, Florida
I do agree that the age limit for smoking should be raised to 18. After all, here is a habit which is certainly not less harmful than alcohol so it follows that the age limit should be equalised with the legal drinking age. Raising the age limit may make young people think twice before taking up the habit as well.
Paul Phillips, Birmingham, UK
Raising the legal age of smoking will not deter teens. The only thing that will work is for their parents to stop smoking and to make smoking completely uncool in the eyes of society.
Anna, Glasgow
Enough shop keepers continue to sell cigarettes, alcohol, fireworks etc, to children. Perhaps if they were irrevocably banned from stocking or selling such items once caught, a difference can be made.
Keith Halewood, Tonbridge, UK
I'm 18 and I don't smoke at all, don't see the point in it. However if people want to kill themselves then it's their choice. There is already education about smoking and drinking in schools, but it's too late. I didn't receive any decent education about the dangers of drink and tobacco until I was 15, this is far too late in my opinion. Youngsters should be educated about this as soon as they start senior school at 11 and it should be reinforced every year until they leave. That might make people start to think. And maybe former smokers, alcoholics, drug takers coming into schools may make an impact. Failing that, maybe just using older school pupils to talk to younger ones may be just as effective if not more. I spoke to a class of 13 year olds (as simply an older person who wasn't a teacher) when I was at school (aged 18) and I received lots of positive feedback. In my opinion this tactic should be used much more.
Emily, Bristol
I agree the age of smoking should be raised but who's going to effectively police the ban?
Ian, Norfolk UK
This is going too far, I smoke but don't drink alcohol. My personality doesn't change when I smoke a cigarette, unlike alcohol. How much tax payers money is wasted on police time, the NHS and repairing damage on property because of alcohol? I still have to hear and suffer the loud behaviour caused by drinking. Smoking does stink but so does diesel fumes from buses and cars which are just as likely to cause cancer, but I still have to breath these in. Why don't we just ban everything then no one can complain.
Mr smith,
If you want to smoke then go ahead. I'd rather see this government outlaw alcohol, it causes more social problems than smoking!
Bob Knox, Alnwick, England
No it should stay the same! If anything it should be lowered because me and a lot of my friends are under 16 and we still smoke and don't care about it's effects. It doesn't mater if it gets raised because we will all still smoke! If the age is raised it just means by the time we are legal to smoke we would probably have given it up! There are a lot of us who are underage smokers.
Ajay, Maidstone
Raising the legal smoking age to 18 is not really addressing the problem. Many young people, by the time they reach 16 have worked out that smoking is not a smart idea. Issuing official photo-ID to over 16s and then making it clear that retailers will have their tobacco licence removed permanently after three offences would probably make the corner shops and off licences think twice before flouting the law.
Andrew Taylor, Nottingham, UK
16-18-21 It makes no difference, if someone wants to smoke they will. Raising the age limit is pretty pointless. People will still be able to buy or get their hands on cigarettes. I think it's utter rubbish raising the age limit, it's just a pointless gesture.
Spencer, UK
The law only says that you must not purchase cigarettes if you are under 16 or have them purchased for you. It doesn't say that you can't smoke. So what's the point in changing the legal age? If the police charged everyone under 16 who was caught smoking they wouldn't have time for important things.
Keith, Chepstow, Wales
I'm a smoker but I also believe the sale of cigarettes, to anyone, should be completely banned in the UK. No matter what the civil liberties arguments are we have a priority to defend the health and lives of children.
Andrew B, Weymouth, England
It doesn't matter what the legal age for smoking is, children will still do it. Even if the cost of cigarettes was doubled, people would still smoke. Whenever the price of cigarettes goes up in the Budget, I never hear anyone complain, the same people still seem to smoke. People will only give it up if they really want to. They will buy them no matter what the cost, even if it meant giving up eating proper food to pay for their habit.
Heather, Manchester
The legal age for buying cigarettes in Ireland is 18, however this does not stop smoking in young people, in the same way that those under 18 still drink and buy alcohol. It just means that it will be harder for them to get cigarettes, although I feel this will only make them more persistent
Nick McClory, London
I smoked for 47 years, I started when I was 14. When kids ask me to get them cigarettes I offer them a puff on my inhaler. I have not had much of a life but the only thing I truly regret is starting to smoke. What a waste, I would not encourage anyone on this earth to smoke I have finally stopped because I had to, it's killing me. I am buying a new car with the money I save, although it's too late my quality of life is ruined. Keep showing the adverts, keep on telling the kids, if just one takes notice it's worthwhile.
Alan, Romford England
If they are old enough to pay taxes and have sex then I think they are old enough to have a smoke.
Craig Milne, Kirkcaldy, Scotland
Ban it altogether! If you want to smoke, smoke in your own home and suffer alone, but don't condemn the rest of us to a slow and painful death.
Charlie, UK
Raising the smoking age will only make it more enticing. Teens desperately want to be adults and do adult things. They take risks to partake of things that adults do such as drink and smoking. Raising the age will simply drive them to steal cigarettes from their parents.
Lydia, UK
There should be one age of consent – for marriage, voting, drinking, sex, driving and smoking and that should be 18.
Wendy, UK
I totally agree, the age should be equalised with the minimum drinking age. More importantly all retailers selling cigarettes should be licensed as for alcohol. Then those caught selling cigarettes to children could lose their licence.
Carl, Cambridge, UK
One of the main comments raised is that under 18's will smoke anyway so why bother? Talk about defeatist! The tobacco companies know if some one does not start smoking until they are 18 they probably never will. We must increase the social stigma attached to smoking so that everyone agrees it is a bad thing. Making it illegal to sell to under 18's will increase fines ten fold. Incidentally if I hear one more smoking moaning that their tax is needed by the government I will scream. We would not need this tax if our hospitals and medical services are empty of those suffering the consequences of their habit, remember smokers you do not have 'rights' you have an addiction.
John, Stockton on Tees
To John: I am baffled by your comment "remember smokers you do not have rights, you have an addiction". It is an addiction like any other social drug i.e. alcohol, coffee. Smokers DO HAVE rights like anyone else and it is the individuals choice to smoke. I have been smoking since I was 12 and I do not want to give it up because I enjoy it and it gets me through the day. I legally buy them in bulk aboard to avoid the UK's high tax. My grandfather has been smoking 60 a day since he was 14 and has never been in hospital, he's a very fit 91 year old. My views on this subject – raising the age will have no effect, Kids will get fags just like they can drink.
Dan, Crawley
Having seen shop keepers selling cigarettes to kids who are clearly under 16, I think they should be the first ones to be targeted before any change. What's the point in increasing the age from 16 to 18 or 21 if no-one enforces the existing law? But I do think the age limit should be increased ultimately as a 16 year old is not even fully developed physically! I also think pregnant mothers should be banned from smoking for the sake of their unborn babies!
Clare, England
People will smoke whatever other people want. My mother smoked for 50 years and it robbed her of at last 15 more years with her grandchildren. It's deadly to smoke but people will, all we can do as a society is discourage it as much as we can and that does mean a ban in public places but not a raising of the legal age
Barry Lowry, Hornchurch Essex UK
Anyone thought of the link between youngsters smoking and where the cigarettes are usually sold (i.e. behind a counter where kids also buy sweets).
David, UK
Any law is only effective if it is enforced, and I can't see the police wasting their time with a report that a 16 year old has just been caught smoking!
Rich, UK
I smoke; I smoke too much. Legislation per se will not persuade me to give up or reduce the amount of tobacco used. Why not stop supermarkets and corner shops selling tobacco products? In other words reduce the availability and the demand may well reduce.
Dave, Norwich
A law that's effectively un-enforceable isn't a law it's a vote winning gimmick. There's no problem for under-16 year old kids getting cigs now (or any kind of drug come to think of it) so raising the age limit isn't going to have any effect. But the effectiveness of a crusade isn't judged by whether it works but by how good it makes the crusaders feel.
John Small, Faversham, UK
Even if the legal age was raised people would still get cigarettes. How do you think children get hold of alcohol and drugs? There will always be someone willing to buy cigarettes for them and shops who do not care what age these kids are. I have seen kids who look no older than thirteen served with alcohol in shops who are more concerned with profit than the dangers of cigarettes and alcohol to underage children.
Helen, Wirral, UK
Why ban something when you can effectively stop it other ways. A number of people have mentioned banning it in public places which to some extent would work. But why not make it almost impossible for youngsters to afford cigarettes? If the price was pushed way up then they couldn't afford to smoke. Yet those who do want to smoke can, and the cost can be to the pocket as well as to their health.
Chris, Leicester
I think that it's clearly obvious that no one takes any notice of age limits on things these days as no one can be bothered to enforce them. Raising the age limit would only be done as a political stunt if surveys like this show it might be a vote winner. The only real way to stop children smoking is for their parents to take a responsible attitude and try and educate them but to be honest, responsibility isn't a word in the UK vocabulary anymore.
Sam, London
I cannot see that raising the legal age of smoking will make any difference at all as most smokers start before it's legal anyway! Making it a bit more difficult, like banning smoking in public places is more likely to be effective because they just won't have anywhere to go when they are young, and might have grown out of the idea by the time they are older. This country needs a review on age limits in general anyway, being legally allowed to have a baby and smoke at 16, but having to wait till 18 to drink and vote! Its all messed up and needs review!
Lisa, Harwich, England
All this anti-smoking attitude has gone too far, the age limit is fine as it is. The government just need to issue a proper id card for 16yr olds, which is freely available. This is the only way tobacconists can be sure they aren't breaking the law by selling cigarettes to under age children. The present system of judging by appearance, is extremely deceptive.
Nick, Cardiff
To all the smokers who are too quick to point out the tax they pay: if smoking was banned, it would save billions in reduced healthcare and other costs. If there was still a shortfall due to the loss of revenue from taxes, I'd be more than happy to see my taxes rise if it would finally banish this dirty habit. It's just impossible for smokers to understand how unpleasant it is for non-smokers to have to breathe in their smoke, whether in a restaurant, railway station, or simply walking past you in the street.
Jonathan, Leicester, UK
Legal age limits are there purely for those of us who are want to be convinced that these laws work. The truth is that if you raise an age limit then that activity is going to be all the more appealing to teenagers.
Max Richards, Wales
I suffer from Asthma and avoid cigarette smoke. Recently we went out for a meal and reserved a table in non-smoking. Half way through our meal, the person behind me started to smoke as the boundary was behind my chair. Unfortunately we were forced to leave as no alternative table could be found. Whilst I don't support a ban, I do feel that young people should not be encouraged to smoke by their peers.
Caron, England
Smoking should be made permanently illegal for anyone born after 1988. The ban would affect no one who legally smokes today, but will save the next generation.
Geoffrey Teabo, London, UK
It won't make any difference. I still see children as young as 8 years old smoking cigarettes. They get them by pestering adults to go into shops to purchase them on their behalf. Raising the smoking age will not stop this.
Maurice, UK
Given that a large number of 11-15 year olds smoke already, when it's supposedly illegal before the age of 16, I doubt this would make much difference. I personally wish smoking had never started in the first place. A good start would be to force tobacco companies to shut down, then there would be no more cigarettes, that's a good start.
Emily, Leeds, UK
What a lot of nonsense! Sex at 16 but can't smoke until 18?
Dave, Reading Berks
To Dave, Reading. Sex isn't bad for you! I would like to see a consistent approach. Vote, drink beer, smoke, drive all at 18. Lets make 18 a very clear point moving from child to adult. Once your an adult its your own personal choice.
Chris Davies, Chippenham, UK
It seems strange to me that smokers are so reviled; they pay a fortune in tax and die early so we don't have to pay them a pension. They cost the NHS money, but so does everyone towards the end of their life, smokers just do it earlier. Perhaps if we are to remove smokers rights to NHS treatment we ought to also remove the rights of everyone else that takes risks with their health: fat people, extreme sports fans, older mothers etc. They take risks with their health but pay no extra tax over their lifetime. We ought to be encouraging more smokers to save the tax burden if nothing else.
Chris, Bradford, UK
Yet another restraint on our civil liberties. Has it ever occurred to you that a 16 year old may actually enjoy this LEGAL activity? We are probably more aware of the dangers than you!
Derek Gogley (aged 16), Reading, Berkshire
This country is so hypocritical – people want smoking bans in pubs, want to raise the age limit etc – the only way to really make a dent in the number of people smoking is to completely ban the selling of cigarettes. However, no one is willing to make up the short fall in taxes this would create, and the government is loath to end such a money spinner. If people really want to stop smoking this is the only real way to do it, and they must bite the bullet and pay the tax increases. What does make me angry is the government spending millions on advertising, stop-smoking campaigns and hospital care for smokers, whilst gladly taking the duty it generates. Completely ban smoking and the selling of tobacco, fund massive "work-shops" to help people to stop and maybe, just maybe, smoking will disappear. I'm a smoker by the way.
Luke, London, UK
Raising the legal age for smoking isn't going to stop young people from smoking. The age for drinking is 18, I see teenagers every weekend drunk. The legal age for having sex is 16 but that doesn't stop the hundreds of teenage pregnancies every year. The only thing that will stop people from smoking is by making it illegal to smoke in public places, so the only place you can smoke is at home. Both my parents died from smoking related diseases, I've never even tried a cigarette, nor want to. I would welcome a ban on smoking in public places, and so would a lot of other people.
Emma, Wales
As a former chain smoker myself, and knowing what I went through trying to give it up, I think 16 is a very immature age to start. By the time one gets to 18 though, I think one should have matured enough to decide whether to destroy their health or not.
Abba Shaib, Paris
The legal age should be raised to 21 or higher and the NHS should refuse to treat people with self-inflicted smoking diseases. It should become illegal to smoke anywhere in public, including your own back garden, and the tax on cigarettes should be raise so they cost £50 a packet
Tom, London, UK
When you reach 18 you are less influenced by peer pressure and able to make better informed decisions. If it stops a few kids taking up the habit then it's a start and worth it.
Nick, Watford, Herts, UK
Yes, raise the legal age for purchasing cigarettes to 21 (not 18) and alcohol to 21 as well. Still allow smoking and drinking from the age of 16 provided they are accompanied by a parent/guardian. Also ban smoking in all public places and ban smoking in front of children (even in private places). I would also lower (not raise) the duty on cigarettes and alcohol to reduce the smuggling.
Gary Russell, Peterborough, England
Changing the legal age will not make much difference. I think it should be banned from all public areas though.
Anon, Newbury, Berks
So, by making the legal age 18 that will stop youngsters starting to smoke? It will not make any difference; they will still start to smoke early.
Steve, Burnley UK
The age should definitely be raised, along with the age for legally purchasing alcohol too! By the age of 18, many people will actually realise how stupid and damaging smoking is, and may have a more mature attitude towards it.
Andy, Leeds, UK
It should defiantly be raised to 18 (at least), at the age of 16, youngsters are still to impressionable, and start smoking due to peer pressure. At 18, this peer effect is less. I'm pretty sure if you ask most smokers why they started, the answer will be peer pressure. In addition to raising the age, the government should consider selling cigarettes to people underage a more serious offence, perhaps even making it a prisonable offence, or at least removing the retailers licence to trade.
Mark G, Weymouth
Changing the legal age for smoking will make little difference as part of the lure of smoking for the young is that it's an adult pursuit banned for youngsters. Banning smoking in all public places will do more to reduce smoking as it will reduce the habit of smoking all round.
JohnM, LyneMeads,UK
The smoking age limit is already one of the best recruiting sergeants the tobacco companies have. Raising it will only make it more effective from that standpoint. Experience should have taught us that this kind of law is almost impossible to enforce.
David Anderson, Wakefield, West Yorkshire
I don't think raising the age will make that much difference. The law needs to be changed making it an offence to attempt to buy cigarettes underage as well as an offence to sell them. As someone who has worked in a newsagents you find that the same kids come in night after night try to buy cigarettes and alcohol and become abusive when they are refused.
Cat, Cambridge UK
If they want to smoke they will, but if you were to deny any smoker the right to use any NHS facility e.g. a visit to the doctor and make them pay private then it might change their minds after all how much NHS money is wasted on people who smoke?
William , UK
I think we should turn this debate on it's head. People are always saying that children want to smoke because it seems like an adult thing to do. Well let kids do it then, in fact it would be prudent to make them smoke a cigarette. If we take away the mysticism of cigarettes, then the compulsion to start will go away. It is also well known that tobacco companies put flavourers into the cigarettes to make the experience more enjoyable. How about if we force them to make the experience LESS enjoyable? What kid would want to suck on something that is seen as normal, tastes truly disgusting, and is nothing special?
Nelson Sa, Oxford, UK
Raising the legal smoking age will not make a difference as kids like doing illegal things as it's "cool". Raising the prices and banning smoking in public areas such as workplaces, pubs, cafes, beaches will do the job much more efficiently. Look at the US where smoking is on the decline.
Conny, Leeds
As most people start smoking between the ages of 10-15, putting up the age limit isn't going to make any difference whatsoever!
Sue Hudson, London, UK
Unfortunately raising the age that people need to be to buy these vile things will have no affect at all. Greedy shopkeepers with pound signs in their eyes will continue to flout the law whether the legal age to buy tobacco is 18 or 80. A far better idea would be to ban this evil product altogether.
Kevin Hogan, Birmingham UK
I don't think a change of the legal age will make any difference at all. Put up tobacco prices to £10 or £15 a pack and change will come soon.
Fran, Germany
Since when has the current limit made any discernable difference at all to pre-16s smoking? There are plenty of off licenses who are either unable to tell, or not bothered either way about a persons age when it comes to cigarettes. It's not as if cigarettes are difficult to buy for them. Also, kids routinely wait outside these shops and ask older people to buy cigarettes (and drinks) for them, and this isn't going to change by upping the minimum age by 2 years. Unlike others who have commented I don't think it will make smoking more taboo, I don't think these changes would make a blind bit of difference.
Darren Coleman, Westbury, UK
If a young person would only listen to the ones who have smoked for years. Smoking is a nasty stinky habit that is hard to break. If they only realized how most of us have smoked for years how much some of us wished we would of never started. Regardless of what you do if there's a will there's a way. You can raise the age limit to anywhere you want but it's not going to stop them from smoking. The more you fight against this with teens the more it draws them to it.
anon,
Trying to get teenagers not to smoke by making it more wrong than it already is? Hmmm. Don't think so. Make something taboo and you instantly raise it's appeal to young people. Effective education about the dangers of smoking would be better. Putting the legal age of smoking up isn't going to stop kids smoking. It will cost lots of money to administer though.
Kate, West Midlands
The legal smoking age must be raised to 18. Youngsters are a lot more mature at 18 rather than at 16. Because of this the rate of younger smokers could fall.
gajen, Kenton
The obvious solution is to make underage drinking/smoking an arrest able offence, and have vans of police officers go around picking up offenders, arresting them and confiscating the offending goods. While issuing court summons and fines, and making the parents come into the police station to collect the children.
Nathan Hobbs, Luton, UK
Raising the smoking age is not going to prevent people from smoking, or starting smoking. People who sell tobacco to underage children should suffer steep penalties. Changing the age of legality will only serve to make smoking a more enticing taboo amongst the younger generation.
Dan, Manchester UK
A couple of months ago I saw a gang of 10-12 years olds walking around smoking at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Will this make any difference? Doubtful.
Paul Weaver, London, UK
As a penitent smoker who has yet to give up but doesn't want others to start I think a raising of the legal age would be a good idea to a certain extent. Unfortunately I don't think it will do an awful lot to stop children and young people smoking as it would probably just make it seem more rebellious and 'grown up'.
Doug McKerracher, Swindon, UK
Raising the age limit on Smoking will only make it "cooler" in the eyes of teenagers. Prohibition always does more damage than good. Education is the best tool we can use. By the age of 16 a person is mature enough to make up their own minds. Don't confuse law with preference. We would like 16 year olds to stop smoking, but we have no right to force them.
Adrian Bowley, Bracknell, UK
As a non smoker I'd say yes but it seems a bit hypocritical to let people get married and have children before they are allowed to smoke. I think it would be more effective to strictly enforce the current age limit – no more ice cream vans selling single cigarettes outside schools at lunchtime!
Fiona, Scotland
Utterly pointless. Kids start smoking before 16 anyways. Why not try enforcing the current legislation on shopkeepers rather than yet again inventing more new laws that won't be acted on?
Mike, Carlisle
And what difference is this going to make. The legal age for drinking is already 18. Take a look around the towns and cities on a Friday night to see if anybody, including the police actually cares.
Paul, UK
As a large proportion of children start smoking well before the age of 16 ( just look round the housing estates at night ) what good will changing the age limit do? More has to be done to educate them not to start and prosecute the relatives, friends and retailers that allow them access to smoking materials.
Steve Roberts, Oxfordshire
Sorry Steve from Oxfordshire – youngsters who don't live on housing estates also smoke as well! Raising the age will do no good – more money collected from the tax on cigarettes should be ploughed into educating young people about the dire consequences of smoking – while we are about it, why not ban smoking from all public places ? And I am a smoker
Pauline, London
When will people realise that teenagers will smoke, drink and have sex when they feel like it and banning it won't help a thing? The best thing we can do is educate them and have them figure it out for themselves.
Matt, Plymouth
Ban it altogether. It is, after all, a harmful drug with no benefit at all.
Moo, London, UK
I think raising the age would not make much of a difference. Teens will get alcohol under age so they will be able to get fags as well. I think the government should make tobacco illegal – it isn't necessary and harms millions.
K A Howlett, Cambridge, Cambs.
Absolutely. And while they're at it, raise the legal drinking age to 21, and the legal driving age to 25. That would improve the quality of life no end.
Edward, UK
Does it really matter what the legal age is? There are smokers now who aren't over 16, and drinkers who aren't over 18. The health organisations give enough warnings about the dangers of smoking, the warning notices are on every single packet, so there isn't much more we can do if people want to kill themselves with smoke.
Rachel Davis, Gloucester, UK
A relief fund has been established to help soldiers injured while fighting in the war in Iraq.
The amount of organic food being bought by residents in Jersey could be studied by the island's Organic Association.
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The death toll from a gas well blow-out in south-west China has risen to 233, the state news agency Xinhua reports.
