Britain to raise smoking age from 16 to 18

Published: Dec. 31, 2006 at 2:21 PM

LONDON, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Britain's public health minister will announce this week that the country's legal minimum age to buy cigarettes will be raised from 16 to 18, a report says.

The Times of London said that in her announcement, Caroline Flint will cite government research that shows roughly 450 children across Britain start smoking each day. The research also suggests that half of those children who go on to become regular smokers will eventually die from diseases caused by cigarettes.

The new law will go into effect October 2007, The Times reported.

Advocates for tougher smoking guidelines are also calling for an increase in fines for shopkeepers who sell to minors and a ban on cigarette vending machines. The Times reported that about half of teenage smokers get their cigarettes from such machines.

© 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Order reprints



Additional News Stories
NFL: San Diego 43, Kansas City 14 (31 min)
NFL: Minnesota 36, Chicago 10 (33 min)
Tiger: Crash my fault; rumors 'malicious' (34 min)
NFL: San Francisco 20, Jacksonville 3 (37 min)
Monken named FB coach at Georgia Southern (40 min)
COL BKB: Texas 77, Rice 59
Snyder resigns as Marshall football coach
fark
Pictures of the ugly ass bonobo born at the Jacksonville Zoo
The choice is to save your wife or your son. This man had to make that choice. What would you do?...
Who knew hospitals had cannons?
Photoshop this crouching monk
10,000 east African albinos in hiding to avoid being dismembered and sold piecemeal to witchdoctors....
No Problem? Yeah, someone has a problem with that