Hiking legal age to buy cigarettes to 21 not enough to create a smoke-free generation

The battle against cancercausing tobacco must be unrelenting – but even the boldest measures are now seeing diminishing returns. The latest proposed law is to ban the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21, up from the current legal age which is 18. But on its own, it will not be enough.

It will be met with a range of obstacles from different fronts aimed at undermining the real level of success it might likely be expected to see.

A decade ago, optimism was high and 2025 was set as the year for Ireland to be tobacco-free.

In other words, smoking prevalence here would be down to less than 5pc of the population by that date.

But with 18pc of the population still currently smokers, and figures remaining static for some time, that will not be possible.

It is hoped that banning the sale of cigarettes to anyone under 21, proposed by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, will give another kick-start to the crusade to cut the numbers of young people taking up the habit. In the decade since the 2004 smoking ban, smoking rates here fell from 27pc to 18pc. The de-normalisation of smoking was a clear influence.

During that time, measures such as price hikes have also been a health driver. A packet of 20 cost €8.90 in 2011 and is now €16.75.

And when it comes to raising the age for buying cigarettes to 21, campaigners point to a possible fall of 25pc in smoking rates among teenagers.

However, results from areas in the US where the ban has been implemented have been mixed and expose the struggle.

One study from 2022 found raising the age to 21 was associated with reductions in cigarette use – but its impact was not enough to curb the surge in vaping, seen as a potential gateway to tobacco.

The steep rise in e-cigarettes among Irish teenagers continues. In 2019, one in five 16-year-olds were found to be using e-cigarettes, double the figure in 2015.

Data from 2018 shows that about one in 10 young people aged between 12 and 17 had used an e-cigarette in the last 30 days.

Another source of cigarettes is online and the Royal College of

Physicians notes that “under-age purchasers are able to access tobacco products from online vendors who can mail them” to individuals.

There are 4,500 vending machines across the country and they offer another outlet for teenagers to obtain cigarettes. In addition, there is the supply smuggled into the country.

A third of cigarettes smoked in Ireland last year had no Irish duty or taxes paid on them – the highest level since tax authorities began tracking the phenomenon in 2009.

Then there is the problem of enforcement. Selling nicotine-inhaling products to a child carries a fine of up to €4,000 and six months in jail. Last year, the HSE’s health inspectors prosecuted just 28 retailers for selling tobacco products to under 18s.

‘Under-age buyers are able to access tobacco products from online vendors’