The legal tobacco age in England may be raised to 25 if a recent review gains traction.
An independent review of the UK government’s plan to make England smoke-free by 2030 commissioned by health secretary Sajid Javid is considering banning cigarette sales to those aged under 25 years.
Leading the review is Javed Khan, former c.e.o. of children’s charity Barnardo’s. Khan said the government’s target would not be met “if nothing different is done” in the approach to cigarettes while also questioning if the target of 5% smoking prevalence by 2030 was ambitious enough. According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, cigarette use dropped from 15.8% in 2019 to 14.5% in 2020.
“A culture of thinking the 'job is done' when it came to tackling smoking rates had led to some avenues of help being neglected,” Khan told The Times. “We are thinking seriously about the age of sale.” Smoking among those aged 18-30 in England increased by 25% during the first pandemic lockdown.
Khan is reportedly looking at New Zealand, where there are some of the strictest smoking laws and a new ban on cigarette sales that will prevent future generations from ever buying cigarettes or tobacco products, for inspiration.
The review is also looking at whether advertising campaigns on social media platforms used by young people, such as TikTok and Instagram, would be effective in stopping them from smoking.
“Just look at the Covid experience, mass marketing has a big effect, it really works. The government went hell for leather, it made an enormous difference in vaccination rates. So why not do something like that again, if we really want to save people’s lives,” Khan said.
The review is targeting key groups which include pregnant women, young people, and those from underprivileged communities. Review findings will be reported in April.