A NEW REPORT from the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland says it’s time to raise the legal age to buy tobacco from 18 to 21.

The RCPI’s Policy Group on Tobacco has today launched the Tobacco 21 report, which was developed from national and international evidence analysed by the Institute of Public Health.

It says amending legislation to raise the minimum legal age for the sale of tobacco products “offers a proven approach to significantly reduce the numbers of teenagers and young adults becoming addicted to tobacco”.

Uptick in use

According to the HSE, smoking is the leading cause of avoidable death in Ireland.

The RCPI says nearly 4,500 people die in Ireland each year from the effects of smoking, while thousands more suffer from smoking-related diseases, including heart and lung disease, and cancers.  

But after what has been described as “decades of progress,” Professor Des Cox, Chair of the RCPI Policy Group on Tobacco, warns that “tobacco control is stagnating and we are actually seeing an uptick in use among teenage boys”.

In 2013, Tobacco Free Ireland was launched – it set a target for Ireland to have a smoking prevalence rate of less than five percent by 2025, effectively making the country a tobacco free society.

Professor Cox says Ireland is not going to achieve this target with the policies currently in place and called Tobacco 21 “a simple and effective step on the road to tobacco endgame”.

He added that it “requires only simple amendments to existing legislation and has strong public support”.

A recent opinion poll of people aged 15 and over found that 71% of the population are in favour of increasing the minimum legal age for tobacco sale to 21.

Easy to access

Professor Cox, who is a consultant in paediatric respiratory medicine, said “most teenagers report finding it easy to get cigarettes directly at the shop or through friends”.

While “experimentation with smoking is highest between 15 and 17,” Professor Cox says “this cohort are less likely to have access to peer networks over 21 who could purchase for them”.

“Tobacco 21 provides this important barrier and is vital to increasing the age of smoking initiation and the lifelong negative health impacts that come with it,” he added. 

The RCPI says the international modelling suggests that Tobacco 21 policies could reduce smoking rates by up to 25% among 15-17-year-olds and by up to 15% among 18-20-year-olds.  

Professor Cox pointed to policies such as smoke-free workplaces in 2004 and standardised packaging in 2018 as “innovative” examples where Ireland “has led in this space before”.

However, he cautioned that “we need more ambitious measures to save lives” and called this “an opportunity for Ireland to once again be a European and global leader in tobacco control”.