Should the legal minimum age for doing certain things be raised or lowered?

[AY1975]

Well you used to be able to buy cigarettes at 16. It changed to 18 in 2007.

Yes, and I could never understand why until that time you were considered old enough to become addicted to nicotine two years before you were deemed old enough to be responsible with alcohol, although I suppose pre-2007 the tobacco buying age was linked to the school leaving age whereas the drinking age was linked to the age of legal majority (or in the days when the age of majority was 21, AFAIK the drinking age was 18 even then so it was presumably linked to the age at which you could go to university or join the armed forces).

In Germany, until about 2007 or 2008 the minimum age for both alcohol (albeit only beer and wine, 18 for spirits) and tobacco was 16, but they then raised the tobacco buying age to 18 but kept the drinking age at 16 at least for beer and wine.

As someone else has said, cigarettes were 16 not that long ago, and there are conversations about the age for them being increased even higher.

As I believe is being proposed in New Zealand, where AIUI if you were born on or after 1st January 2009 you'll never be allowed to buy them.

 

[najaB]

As I believe is being proposed in New Zealand, where AIUI if you were born on or after 1st January 2009 you'll never be allowed to buy them.

I'm pretty sure it advanced beyond the proposal stage and was passed into law towards the end of last year. No doubt there have been/will be legal challenges though.

 

[Butts]

I'm pretty sure it advanced beyond the proposal stage and was passed into law towards the end of last year. No doubt there have been/will be legal challenges though.

Are you allowed to smoke them, if so it rather defeats the object ?

 

[najaB]

Are you allowed to smoke them, if so it rather defeats the object ?

I don't think any country has set a minimum age to smoke cigarettes, but rather a minimum age to purchase them or to be supplied with them.

 

[AY1975]

I don't think any country has set a minimum age to smoke cigarettes, but rather a minimum age to purchase them or to be supplied with them.

I don't think it's as simple as that. AIUI in some countries the law only applies to purchasing tobacco products and in some countries it is also illegal to have them in your possession or smoke them anywhere in public if you're under the legal purchasing age. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_age

According to the above Wikpedia entry in England and Wales the minimum age to smoke in public is still 16 (even though the purchasing age was raised to 18 in 2007), and the authorities are required to seize tobacco products from anyone who appears to be under 16 and is seen in public smoking them or with them in their possession. I believe that the police have the powers to do this, at least in theory, and I seem to recall that when I was at secondary school in the late 1980s and early '90s, we were told in our Personal and Social Education lessons that park keepers (remember them?) also had the power to do so.

I'm pretty sure it advanced beyond the proposal stage and was passed into law towards the end of last year. No doubt there have been/will be legal challenges though.

AIUI NZ's new law will mean that adults who are already smokers will still be free to buy and smoke tobacco products but it will make it much harder for the tobacco industry to recruit children, teenagers and young adults to the habit in future.

 

[DelayRepay]

Yes, and I could never understand why until that time you were considered old enough to become addicted to nicotine two years before you were deemed old enough to be responsible with alcohol, although I suppose pre-2007 the tobacco buying age was linked to the school leaving age whereas the drinking age was linked to the age of legal majority (or in the days when the age of majority was 21, AFAIK the drinking age was 18 even then so it was presumably linked to the age at which you could go to university or join the armed forces).

I assume the previous age of 16 dates back to a time when the health risks associated with smoking were less well understood. Remember in those days cigarettes used to be advertised widely and their branding appeared all over sports teams/events. A very different world today.

 

[najaB]

I don't think it's as simple as that. AIUI in some countries the law only applies to purchasing tobacco products and in some countries it is also illegal to have them in your possession or smoke them anywhere in public if you're under the legal purchasing age.

True. But even in those countries the prohibition isn't on the actual act of smoking the cigarettes (though it would be difficult to smoke them if you can't possess them).

 

[Islineclear3_1]

I assume the previous age of 16 dates back to a time when the health risks associated with smoking were less well understood. Remember in those days cigarettes used to be advertised widely and their branding appeared all over sports teams/events. A very different world today.

And when I was at school, I could buy singles from the local shop at 5p each

 

[cb a1]

And when I was at school, I could buy singles from the local shop at 5p each

The local shop round the corner from my school also included a match!

 

[Butts]

The local shop round the corner from my school also included a match!

A non-safety one presumably ?

Wonder how much "singles" are today

 

[cjmillsnun]

Raising the age at which one can learn to drive would be good, especially for males.

It actually won’t make much difference unless you make it until people are in their mid 30s.

 

[AY1975]

A non-safety one presumably?

Probably.

Wonder how much "singles" are today

I presume you mean single cigarettes. AFAIK it's now illegal to sell them singly in the UK, presumably as part of measures to make it harder for minors to get hold of them.