The Coffee House
Time to raise the smoking age? - Printable Version

+- The Coffee House (https://tch-forum.com)
+-- Forum: Topical discussions (https://tch-forum.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=19)
+--- Forum: Health and Lifestyle (https://tch-forum.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=24)
+--- Thread: Time to raise the smoking age? (/showthread.php?tid=2991)

Pages: 1 2


Time to raise the smoking age? - Deleted User 8 - 03-28-2019

Quote:There is a growing clamour to raise the age at which tobacco products can be bought, from 18 to 21.

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health put forward the idea earlier this month, and now a leading doctor, Imperial College London respiratory specialist Dr Nicholas Hopkinson, has written in the British Medical Journal arguing the case for the change.

Helping existing smokers to quit is important, says Dr Hopkinson, who also chairs the Action on Smoking and Health campaign group, but "the most vital element" is to prevent young people from starting in the first place.

"Smoking is a contagious habit, transmitted within peer groups," he says.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-47724068

I believe this had been discussed elsewhere on the forum (the same about the drinking age) but, I really do hope changes are made, even for the sake of young people's health.


RE: Time to raise the smoking age? - Lurkerish Allsorts - 03-28-2019

I disagree unless age of majority is changed to 21, so that means military service, drinking, voting, free public education for students until 21 (so past high school), etc would be changed to 21. This is happening in the states too (changing the smoking age, drinking age is already 21) and 18 year olds are just getting all the responsibilities of being an adult but none of the "freedoms".


RE: Time to raise the smoking age? - Detective Osprey - 03-28-2019

Yesyesyesyesyesyes... please.


RE: Time to raise the smoking age? - Moonshroom - 03-28-2019

Agreed the hell and back, Lurka!

But I think it should be banned altogether... people are addicted and tricked into giving themselves cancer.


RE: Time to raise the smoking age? - Lurkerish Allsorts - 03-28-2019

(03-28-2019, 08:20 PM)Dust Bowl Wrote: Agreed the hell and back, Lurka!

But I think it should be banned altogether... people are addicted and tricked into giving themselves cancer.

As much as cancer sucks (and I know first hand), especially in the western world you are bombarded with how bad smoking is for you, at this point people who smoke even as a teen know the risk (now if they comprehend it is a different story...) but even as adults they know what they are doing, if they want to suffer though cancer with how sucky it is let them. Its better then getting it out of the blue for no reason (which was my case)


RE: Time to raise the smoking age? - Moonshroom - 03-28-2019

Even if so, I lost my father and grandfather to it... and they paid for it!


RE: Time to raise the smoking age? - Deleted User 8 - 03-28-2019

(03-28-2019, 08:20 PM)Dust Bowl Wrote: But I think it should be banned altogether
That will never happen... as the government makes too much money on tobacco. It's only a pipe dream (pardon the pun).


RE: Time to raise the smoking age? - Kyng - 03-28-2019

I'm with Lurker here, TBH. Smoking is a really dumb idea - but, I think raising the age is the wrong approach to tackling it. I'm worried that it would lead to other ages being increased down the line - and, as I've argued in the 'driving' threads in the past, pushing back these 'right of passage' milestones is just going to lead to less mature young adults with less life experience. I was fine with raising the age from 16 to 18 when that happened; however, I think 18 is where it should stay.

Instead, I think raising taxes on cigarettes, regulations on advertising, and even things like plain packaging laws, are better ideas for putting people off smoking.


RE: Time to raise the smoking age? - Shiny Star - 03-29-2019

(03-28-2019, 08:41 PM)Kyng Wrote: I'm with Lurker here, TBH. Smoking is a really dumb idea - but, I think raising the age is the wrong approach to tackling it. I'm worried that it would lead to other ages being increased down the line - and, as I've argued in the 'driving' threads in the past, pushing back these 'right of passage' milestones is just going to lead to less mature young adults with less life experience. I was fine with raising the age from 16 to 18 when that happened; however, I think 18 is where it should stay.

Instead, I think raising taxes on cigarettes, regulations on advertising, and even things like plain packaging laws, are better ideas for putting people off smoking.

Exactly. I know plenty of people that were able to buy it off of people underage anyway.


RE: Time to raise the smoking age? - MegaphoneStallone - 03-29-2019

EDIT: Nvm