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POLL: MAJORITY SAYS 18-YEAR-OLDS SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO PURCHASE TOBACCO PRODUCTS
A new poll for the smokers' lobby group Forest has found that almost two thirds of adults in Britain say that when people are 18 and legally an adult they should be allowed to buy cigarettes and other tobacco products.
The survey, conducted by Yonder Consulting, found that 64% of respondents think that if a person can vote, drive a car, join the army, buy alcohol, and possess a credit card at 18, they should also be allowed to purchase tobacco.
Only a quarter (26%) said they should not be allowed to buy tobacco products when they are legally an adult at 18, while 10% said 'don't know'.
Creeping prohibition
The poll coincides with the confirmation last night that 'A new law will make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009'.
Responding to the news, Simon Clark, director of Forest, said:
“As soon as you are legally an adult you should be treated like one and allowed to buy tobacco, if that's your choice.
“We can't have a two-tier society in which some adults are permitted to buy tobacco and others are denied the same opportunity.”
Urging Downing Street to think again, he added:
“Law-abiding retailers will have the difficult job of enforcing this absurd policy that also drives a stake into the heart of traditional Conservative values such as freedom of choice and personal responsibility.”
Banned wagon
Alongside a ban on the sale of single use or disposable vapes, the Government will also consider 'new powers to restrict vape flavours, introduce plain packaging for vapes, and change how they are displayed in shops so they don’t appeal to children'.
According to Clark:
“Vaping has been a free market success story. Millions of smokers who want to quit have done so by switching voluntarily to e-cigarettes and other reduced risk products.
“The convenience of single use vapes has played an important part in that process.
“The issue of children vaping should be addressed not by imposing further restrictions on vapes but by enforcing existing age restrictions and punishing retailers who sell vapes illegally to children.”
Below: Forest director Simon Clark discussing the disposable vape ban on Reporting Scotland (BBC1 Scotland), Monday January 29, 2024
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