Tobacco News and Interesting Information

ONE in five under-16s are smoking - and half them buy their own fags from local shops.

The figure was revealed in a major survey by trading standards officers, just as the legal age for buying tobacco rose to 18 at the start of the month.

Inspectors say they will use the results to crack down on shops who break the law, using under-age spies - and fines can reach 2,500.

The law applies also to tobacco-related sales, such as cigarette papers. The survey also revealed that many youngsters buy cigarettes with foreign health warnings, which is an indication of illegal imports. One in four said they had purchased counterfeit cigarettes.

Peter Jagger, Bury's head of trading standards, said: "Raising the age limit from 16 to 18 will help to reduce the levels of sales of cigarettes to young people.

"Trading standards officers have shown that, by clamping down on under-age sales, significant reductions in under-age drinking can be achieved. Now the fight is on to tackle under-age smoking."

The figures come from a survey of nearly 12,000 schoolchildren in the North West, the largest of its kind ever carried out in Europe. Some 530 questionnaires were returned from Bury schools.

Dr Peter Elton, Bury's director of public health, added: "It is vital that fewer children take up smoking.

"Everything we can do to make it more difficult for young people to get hold of cigarettes will help prevent them from getting addicted before they reach adulthood."