PLANS TO RAISE THE AGE LIMIT FOR BUYING CIGARETTES FROM 16 TO 18 HAVE BEEN RESURRECTED BY LABOUR. BUT IS IT REALLY A GOOD IDEA? GARY TAPHOUSE LOOKS AT THE EXTENT OF UNDERAGE SMOKING IN SUTTON.After months of huffing and puffing, the Government has re-lit the debate about raising the legal age limit for buying cigarettes in an attempt to stub out underage smoking.

Health Minister and Dulwich MP Tessa Jowell has unveiled new plans to introduce an ID card for teenagers, which retailers could demand for young people trying to buy cigarettes and alcohol.

Figures from the Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth (MSW) Health Authority make alarming reading. 27 per cent of young people in the health authority area say they have smoked, with 18 per cent saying they had just had a puff.

The average age at which they tried their first cigarette is 12.

Interestingly, few people take up smoking after the age of 25; only five per cent of men and 10 per cent of women start to smoke regularly after this age.

The 10 to 19 age category were also the most likely to smoke 30 cigarettes or more a day.

Even more worryingly for parents, the research by MSW reveals that young people who smoke regularly are 22 times more likely than non-smokers to use illegal drugs.

The report by the health authority states: "If alcohol consumption and tobacco use are relatively normalised activities for young people, alcohol and tobacco education may need a higher profile.

"Smoking and alcohol use are part of a growing trend towards polydrug use.

"This needs addressing through focused education and community healthy promotion measures.''

Trading standards officers at Sutton Council carry out regular checks on newsagents and other shopkeepers in the borough, to find out whether they are selling to underage smokers.

Mike Bellamy, advice and education manager with trading standards, explained how they carry out these tests.

"We take a young child into the shops and see if the traders will sell them cigarettes.

"We use children who specifically look under 16 - young people of 12 or 13 - and are definitely young enough to be questioned.''

"Of the shopkeepers who sell cigarettes to people who are underage I suspect there are a small number of shopkeepers who do it knowing someone is underage.

"But the larger number just don't check properly.''

But Croydon South's Tory MP Richard Ottoway has told the Independenthe rejects the proposals. "If people are capable of making decisions about sex and marriage, they're more than capable of deciding whether or not they want to smoke," he says.

"It's up to the retailers to decide whether or not someone is old enough to buy cigarettes.

"As for the ID cards, we had plans for a voluntary card for teenagers and I would certainly welcome that - but not a compulsory one."

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