UK: Sale of Electronic Cigarettes to under-18s to be Banned by Government

Source from:  Mirror News  01/26/2014

Selling electronic ­cigarettes to under-18s is to be outlawed.

Ministers will this week unveil a crackdown on the devices to stop youngsters becoming addicted to the nicotine they deliver.

The Government will also ban adults from buying ­cigarettes for children, with the threat of a £2,500 fine.

The measures are aimed at helping parents protect children from the dangers of smoking and cut the number of teenagers taking up smoking.

E-cigarettes give smokers a hit of highly addictive nicotine. Some experts claim they are safer than cigarettes. But the European Union has already slapped rules on the booming e-cigarette market.

Health Ministers are proposing changes to the Children and Families Bill to create an age of sale requirement for e-cigarettes and to make it illegal for adults to knowingly buy tobacco for anyone under 18.

England's Chief Medical Officer Professor Dame Sally Davies said: "We do not yet know the harm that e-cigarettes can cause to adults let alone to children, but we do know they are not risk free.

"E-cigarettes can produce toxic chemicals and the amount of nicotine and other chemical constituents and contaminants, including vaporised flavourings, varies between products meaning they could be extremely damaging to young people's health."

At present, there is no legal restriction on people under the age of 18 buying e-cigarettes, which are soaring in popularity among young people.

But health experts fear the devices could lead to an increase in the number of teenagers smokers who become addicted to the nicotine "hit".

Smoking rates are at their lowest ever. But more than 1,000 people still end up in hospital every day as a result of smoking.

In a bid to further restrict children's access to cigarettes, a new offence will be created which will mean any adult who buys cigarettes or other tobacco products for someone who is under 18 could be given a £50 fixed penalty notice or fined up to £2,500.

The move comes after latest figures show 41 per cent of 15-year-olds who smoke say they usually buy their cigarettes from other people rather than buying them from a shop.

And, 95 per cent of 11 to 15-year-olds who smoke have managed to get someone else to buy cigarettes for them at least once in the past year.

Ministers hope the crackdown on adults buying cigarettes for children will be in place by the autumn.

The clampdown would mean cigarettes would face the same restrictions as alcohol which adults are already barred from buying for children. Enditem