Australia: Young Tasmanians Smoking More

Source from:  Mercury 05/12/2016

The State Government says recent findings from a leading independent health analyst on tobacco use among young Tasmanians have bolstered its proposal to raise the smoking age to 21 or even 25.

Health Minister Michael Ferguson said the results compiled by Martyn Goddard, based on two surveys from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, revealed that although overall smoking rates continued to fall, use among Tasmanians aged 15 to 24 rose 6.7 per cent in three years from 2011.

Mr Ferguson said reducing the impacts of tobacco on young people was a key health priority of the Government, and something that could be partly achieved by raising the smoking age.

"Research and practical evidence from overseas supports raising the minimum legal smoking age as an effective way to target the most at-risk age category for smoking uptake and the key problem of secondary supply to teens," he said.

"Any change to the legal smoking age would be phased in over time as part of a range of continuing measures aimed at reducing smoking uptake and encouraging smokers to quit. This will continue to de-normalise smoking and the idea that smoking is ever safe."

Mr Goddard found of the 84,600 Tasmanians estimated to be smoking in 2011-12, about 11 per cent of them, or 9000, had quit three years later. But his analysis also revealed 800 people aged 15-24 took up the habit in the same period.

In his report, Mr Goddard backed the Government's proposed raise in the smoking age, saying many under-age smokers obtained their cigarettes from older friends and siblings, rather than from retail outlets.

"Raising the smoking age should tend to cut off this supply," Mr Goddard said.

"Among older Tasmanians, the results are more encouraging, with the 25 to 34 and 65-plus age groups showing major declines.

"Increasing prices, which is supported by both sides of federal politics, has long been shown to be effective in reducing smoking and saving lives. But this alone will not produce the results we need."

Anti-tobacco group SmokeFree Tasmania has previously dismissed raising the smoking age in favour of the Tobacco Free Generation legislation before Parliament. Introduced by independent MLC Ivan Dean, it would, from 2018, make it illegal to supply tobacco to anyone born after 2000. Enditem