This is mildly interesting...

[Danny]

Due to new cigarette-purchasing age being lifted to 18 on October the 1st, there will be a 9 day period during which I cannot buy cigarettes, despite being able to now!
Better stock up then.

But this new limit is going to suck for people under 16 who smoke.

Any opinions guise?

 

[ExigeEvan]

All it'll do is make it harder for people to smoke in comprehensive schools as the Yr11's won't be able to buy ciggs and pass them down to the younger years. It won't be much of a problem though.

I'm gonna have to go 7 months without buying ciggs, that's really gonna be hard...

 

[the Interceptor]

Perfect opportunity to quit smoking I'd say.

 

[TopHat]

Wow... Smoking AND drinking at your age Finch?

Also stop smoking kthxbai.

 

[ExigeEvan]

Wow... Smoking AND drinking at your age Finch?

Also stop smoking kthxbai.

All the cool kids are.

 

[land sea air]

raising the smoking age is never a bad thing 👍

 

[TopHat]

All the cool kids are dying of lung cancer at a younger age.

 

[ExigeEvan]

All the cool kids are dying of lung cancer at a younger age.

Misquote! That is a slanderous comment, I'll be talking to my lawyers.



At this point it's only fair to point out I don't smoke and generally use "..." to imply some sarcasm.

 

[TopHat]

Ok then.

 

[Kylehnat]

I wouldn't worry too much. There is still plenty of time to smoke after you turn 18.

 

[Venari]

I thought you had to be 18 before you could be sarcastic?

 

[Kylehnat]

And April 10, 2002 was the greatest day of my life. Getting that sarcasm license was far more thrilling than buying that pack of smokes.

 

[Rykon Zero]

[/sarcasm]

 

[YSSMAN]

They really let your kids start smoking at the age of 16 in the UK?

And yet again I question why so many of you think you've got a better setup than we do here in the US...

 

[Danoff]

Children shouldn't legally be allowed to purchase strongly addictive substances. Where you draw the line at "child" I'm not sure. But somewhere around 16-18 seems fine.

 

[Venari]

I'd sort of agree with that. I filled my Chevette with four-star on my seventeeth birthday. Not been able to give it up yet, although I had to switch to unleaded to stop my cat dying.

 

[ExigeEvan]

They really let your kids start smoking at the age of 16 in the UK?

And yet again I question why so many of you think you've got a better setup than we do here in the US...

Because people have been smoking from a young age in the United Kingdom for longer than the USA has existed

 

[somebody]

Where you draw the line at "child" I'm not sure. But somewhere around 16-18 seems fine.

Generally when I draw a line on a child they go screaming to their parents well before I get to 16-18...

Oh! I see what you mean.

 

[livemusic]

Legal smoking age over here is 16 I think but I used to buy cigarettes for my dad when I was a kid.

 

[YSSMAN]

Because people have been smoking from a young age in the United Kingdom for longer than the USA has existed

I do wonder how your government didn't get the memo that smoking is bad, mmm kay?

Granted, everyone should have the right do what they want, when they want, but there should also be limits for doing so when it is clearly in violation of someone's heath. Granted, I know that I've discussed the stupidity of anti-smoking laws time and time again (I do believe in smoker's rights), but these people should all be 18+. Being 16 and smoking? It just feels far too young, given the potential health hazards.

I'd estimate that by age 18, most folks have a level head on their shoulders, and can make the right decisions. As most folks would say here in the US, if you're old enough to vote and go off to war, then you're old enough to do just about anything. Except for drinking. Which IMO, should change...

 

[Danoff]

I don't think the health hazard issue is totally legit. Children are allowed to eat all kinds of things that are horrible for their health, or are allowed to participate in sports that are violent and dangerous or that fundamentally alter their body structure (gymnastics comes to mind).

There are a few relevant things children aren't good at here. Being responsible by knowing how their actions affect others. Understanding their own mental state and emotions.

Both of those are good reasons to prevent children from having access to very dangerous items like cars or guns, and the second especially is a good reason to keep them from making the choice to take an addictive substance.

But playing health hazard card opens up a can of worms.

 

[Parnelli Bone]

Due to new cigarette-purchasing age being lifted to 18 on October the 1st, there will be a 9 day period during which I cannot buy cigarettes, despite being able to now!
Better stock up then.

But this new limit is going to suck for people under 16 who smoke.

Any opinions guise?

Yes, i have opinions. And they contradict.

This is just one step of an effort to stop people from smoking. There's been all sorts of lawsuits, rules, and such, and them raising the age is just another rule in a long, long battle back and forth.

On the one hand, i detest these rules and lawsuits. I think by now, we all know cigarettes are bad for you. Anyone putting a lawsuit on a Phillip Morris (for instance) and claiming they were "lied to" is really just after money. Man, we've all known cigarettes are bad for decades, this is nothing new. I get a bit offended any time the government starts to say "no" to us on this subject, even tho i'm not a cig-smoker. And let's face it....many kids start smoking when they're 14-16...raising the age will make it a bit harder for them to obtain cigs, but it certainly won't stop them in the long run. People do what they want if they have the means to do so.

On the other hand, i'm glad they are putting the tough moves on cigarettes & cigarette smokers. I personally do not smoke cigarettes, but i smoke pot. I don't think one is any worse than the other. So if what i smoke is illegal and i can't enjoy it within reason (except squirreled away in my room or at a party with other pot-smokers), why should alcohol & cigarettes be legal? Why not put all these controlled substances on the same page? They're all bad for you!!! So i never understood why one gets favored over another legally?

 

[Danoff]

On the other hand, i'm glad they are putting the tough moves on cigarettes & cigarette smokers. I personally do not smoke cigarettes, but i smoke pot. I don't think one is any worse than the other. So if what i smoke is illegal and i can't enjoy it within reason (except squirreled away in my room or at a party with other pot-smokers), why should alcohol & cigarettes be legal? Why not put all these controlled substances on the same page? They're all bad for you!!! So i never understood why one gets favored over another legally?

Seems like the obvious conclusion is to legalize all of the above - especially since you admit to enjoying some of the above.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

They really let your kids start smoking at the age of 16 in the UK?

And yet again I question why so many of you think you've got a better setup than we do here in the US...

I don't think it really matters since when you get to high school you can pretty easily get all types of drugs. Many people I went to school with started or at least experimented with smoking around grades 6-8.

 

[YSSMAN]

I suppose thats a good point...

...We had so many rich kids at my High School that they'd pretty much get bored and try the different kinds of drugs. Turns out my friend had been selling cocaine pretty much after we entered HS, which came as a huge surprise. AFAIK, he never was caught, but he did spend some time in rehab, interestingly enough with another coke-head from my graduating class...

 

[backspace]

Theres no legal "smoking age" in the US. Anyone of any age can smoke, but the law in NJ says you have to be at least 19 to buy cigarettes..and even that is hardly enforced around here.

 

[ExigeEvan]

I do wonder how your government didn't get the memo that smoking is bad, mmm kay?

But they did, and then got the memo saying how much tax they got from it.

Granted, everyone should have the right do what they want, when they want, but there should also be limits for doing so when it is clearly in violation of someone's heath. Granted, I know that I've discussed the stupidity of anti-smoking laws time and time again (I do believe in smoker's rights), but these people should all be 18+. Being 16 and smoking? It just feels far too young, given the potential health hazards.

It's interesting because in the US you can learn to drive sooner than you can in the UK, and yet our drinking ages are lower.

I'd estimate that by age 18, most folks have a level head on their shoulders, and can make the right decisions. As most folks would say here in the US, if you're old enough to vote and go off to war, then you're old enough to do just about anything. Except for drinking. Which IMO, should change...[/QUOTE]
I suppose the logic is that here you can do things that will directly effect your health (ignore passive smoking in this instance) at a younger age but you can't be put in control of a vehicle that could cause harm far more easily to others, in the UK. To be perfectley honest, if you can't make decisions on your own health at 16 you have some serious mental deficiency.

I'd hope that at 16 most folks have a level enough head on their shoulders to atleast look after themselves, even if not be able to take others into consideration.

 

[YSSMAN]

I'd hope that at 16 most folks have a level enough head on their shoulders to atleast look after themselves, even if not be able to take others into consideration.

Come to America and you may be surprised to find that people much older than 16 can't even do that...

You'd think that common-sense things like smoking, use of a prophylactic, alcohol consumption (pregnant, age, health, etc), how to use a toaster, how to prepare food, washing your hands, proper use of a vehicle, etc are easy to come by.

I have a hard enough time finding people who are good enough to know how to fold a G-D tee-shirt...

 

[ExigeEvan]

Come to America and you may be surprised to find that people much older than 16 can't even do that...

You'd think that common-sense things like smoking, use of a prophylactic, alcohol consumption (pregnant, age, health, etc), how to use a toaster, how to prepare food, washing your hands, proper use of a vehicle, etc are easy to come by.

I have a hard enough time finding people who are good enough to know how to fold a G-D tee-shirt...

Then we really do have things better over here because I think most people at 16 would atleast be able to use a toaster and prepare basic meals by the age of 16. Damn, in today's society of both parents or single mums working 9-5 most kids need to be able to cook some sort of basic meal for when they get home. And quite frankly, most people I know can.

 

[askia47]

Then we really do have things better over here because I think most people at 16 would atleast be able to use a toaster and prepare basic meals by the age of 16. Damn, in today's society of both parents or single mums working 9-5 most kids need to be able to cook some sort of basic meal for when they get home. And quite frankly, most people I know can.

I was cooking for myself well before 16. Most kids around 15 or so know what they are doing, I just think they are acting like that because they really dont care (imo). Also people above 18 dont know to much better either (as YSSMAN said). Most kids from 16-21 just want to let loose and have fun regardless of others or sometimes themselves.