In view of the forthcoming second reading of the Tobacco and Vapes bill in the House of Commons which includes a gradual increase in the minimum age required to purchase tobacco as a variable by one year every year until no one is eventually allowed to purchase tobacco in the future after generations have renewed, which will take place on the 16th of April, the chairman of smokers’ rights group FOREST, Simon Clark, sent a letter to MPs in the House of Commons urging them not to support or vote for the prohibitive form of legislation. In his letter sent to all MPs, Simon Clark wrote:
Given all the problems facing the country, at home and abroad, it beggars belief that the prime minister has chosen to prioritise raising the age of sale of tobacco. We are told the policy will protect children, but how? The display of tobacco in shops is prohibited, cigarettes are sold in plain packaging with graphic health warnings, and the legal age of sale of tobacco is currently 18 when you are legally an adult. The proper response to the ever-decreasing number of children who smoke is not to ban the sale of tobacco to adults but to crack down on those who illegally sell tobacco to anyone under 18. MPs need to think very carefully about the unintended consequences of raising the legal age of sale of tobacco. Denying future generations of adults the right to legally purchase cigarettes and other tobacco products won’t stop those who want to smoke. Creeping prohibition will simply drive the sale of tobacco underground and into the hands of criminal gangs and illicit traders. Almost two-thirds (64%) of the public believe that if people are allowed to drive a car, join the army, possess a credit card, purchase alcohol, and vote at 18, they should also be allowed to buy cigarettes and other tobacco products.
Simon Clark, director of FOREST
The first reading of the Tobacco and Vapes bill including the extreme and phase-out of smoking from generational renewal starting from the next one concluded on the 20th of March, while the second reading of the bill is scheduled for the 16th of April, with almost all main opposition Labour MPs expected to vote in favour of it, instead of many, up to half, from Rishi Sunak’s ruling party, from whom the same initiative originates, who disagree.
It is also expected to discuss the compromise and alternative solution of raising the minimum age for tobacco purchase to 21 years from 18, which was introduced in most U.S. states under the presidency of Donald Trump, a measure that does not constitute a restriction and especially not of an anti-smoking nature, instead of legitimizing the violation of rights of choice and self-determination of adult citizens treating them like children while reciprocally treating children and underage teenagers as the adults who were born after 2009.
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