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Age Restricted Goods - Smoking:
Did you know that around 70 percent of adult smokers started smoking when they were aged between 11 and 15? People have known since the 1950s that smoking causes lung cancer. Smoking is also linked to more than 50 other diseases many of which are fatal.
The Ash website www.ash.org.uk provides information about smoking and help for people who want to give up. They point out that half of the people who continue to smoke will be killed from it and that smokers lose an average of 16 years of life. Even scarier is that smoking kills 114,000 people every year. In spite of this people continue to smoke so to make sure that young people are protected, there are laws in place that stop people under the age of 16 being able to buy cigarettes. Just like other harmful products, it is Trading Standards who ensure shops stick to the rule.
The Children & Young Persons (Protection from Tobacco) Act prevents shops from selling cigarettes or tobacco illegally. If the shop has a vending machine to sell cigarettes they must also make sure that no one under 16 uses it. If shops break this law they could get a fine of up to £2500!