Smoking legal 18 from 1st of october

I honestly don't know if upping the age by two years will make much difference. It's been proved that taking the driving age up to 18 will reduce accidents and so on, but where's the evidence that smokers find it harder to quit if they started at 16 instead of 18? Out of the hardcore smokers I've spoken to, a surprising number of them started BEFORE they were 16. Would this change in the law affect people who start in that way? I seriously doubt it. As Chaz and Liquid Skin pointed out, this sort of law won't affect chavs who'd flout it anyway.

Besides, there's already pressure on smokers right now so I'd say it's the laws (and our attitudes) on alcohol and junk food that need the most attention right now. The changes in alcohol licencing (i.e. 24 hour drinking and so on) really haven't had the intended effect.
 
I'm 21 anyway, so it doesn't affect me. In fact, I don't smoke and I drink very little; raising the legal age has no effect on me whatsoever.

Even though Labour managed to go ahead with the smoking ban, I'm still sceptical about any "initiatives" they have.
 
these laws are rediculous really....

from 16 we can have sex with whomever we like as much as we like, but not go to a movie with sex scenes...

from the age of 16 the government gives us the full right to bare children(or in my case, have ALOT of fun lol) but cant go see a dirty movie...

there should be 1 age from which we can start making are own choices in life and be held responsible for are actions, smoking, drinking, sex... the thought of the drinking age being raised to 21 is absurd!

i just turned 18 last month so its all good... for now :?
 
It depends really, i think the benefit of the staggered age laws in the government's mind is that young adults aren't exposed to all of these things in one big burst and so don't get overwhelmed by the pressures of adulthood and all its umm...perks?

But who actually abides by these rules anyway? If the laws actually worked it should go smoking - drinking - sex - having children but its not as if you can stop someone from sneaking a fag, having a pint or umm.....well i wouldn't want to attempt stopping someone from having sex, especially if he/she was "in the act". :D
 
skikes said:
from 16 we can have sex with whomever we like as much as we like, but not go to a movie with sex scenes...

from the age of 16 the government gives us the full right to bare children(or in my case, have ALOT of fun lol) but cant go see a dirty movie...
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I dunno, "Love Actually" has 2 porn stars having a relationship in-the-making towards X-mas. Some scenes had some nudity (Although, I wouldn't call it even soft-core porn.) So you get the basic idea anyways. ;)
skikes said:
there should be 1 age from which we can start making are own choices in life and be held responsible for are actions, smoking, drinking, sex... the thought of the drinking age being raised to 21 is absurd!
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I'd probably have been comfortable with this. That way, we dont have to worry about when we can do things etc. Especially comparing to other cultures, e.g. UK Drinking = 18, Most foriegn Drinking = 21.
Who knows, maybe the gov should distribute leaflets to help people when they do turn 21. :p Like it would help.
 
Agree with skikes - these age limits are ridiculous when you consider the age of consent and the amount of teenage girls walking around with baby strollers...

Drinking - Actually, most EU nations are 18, beer is 16 in Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Portugal, Austria, Belgium and The Netherlands. On the continent, kids are exposed to wine etc. with meals and under parental supervision. Statistically, they are least likely to develop binge drinking or extreme alcoholism, becuase they've learnt moderation from a young age.

The US has a bigger binge drinking problem than us even... college students going wild for the first time, etc... so why is following the US with their 21 age limit a good idea again?
 
Being 23 it doesn't affect me so much. I do smoke and drink myself. (Don't think any less of me). I still think that it's a good idea however. With smoking being banned from most (if not all) public places, I find I don't smoke any where near as much as I used to. Which is a god thing. I should really consider quiting but I'm too stressed with things going on to even think of doing that. I don't drink as much as I used to. I'll be glad that they change the drinking age to 21. My little sister had a bad night when she was younger with alcohol. It led to a bad night in hospital. I know this wouldn't happen to everyone like, but at the very least it would happen less often.
Anyway, that's my little piece on the subject. :)
 
sonia_leong said:
Drinking - Actually, most EU nations are 18, beer is 16 in Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Portugal, Austria, Belgium and The Netherlands. On the continent, kids are exposed to wine etc. with meals and under parental supervision. Statistically, they are least likely to develop binge drinking or extreme alcoholism, becuase they've learnt moderation from a young age.

The US has a bigger binge drinking problem than us even... college students going wild for the first time, etc... so why is following the US with their 21 age limit a good idea again?
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Wow... I really am outside the social world... I need to update myself!
So why is it that we have these "geniuses" that think chugging pints down is "awesome!"? If the rest of the EU can do it, why is Britain so ignorant to this moderation? It's not taking away your freedom, it's just common sense to do things responsibly at a responsible age.

As for the age thing, I dunno... I'm just thinking from a naive point of view that if it was raised, at least it would reduce 12 year olds from getting tipsy. I would of hoped that if the age rate was raised, only kids that are 15+ may consider it, because they're close to "coming of age" for adults. It's not a solution, but a slight deterant.
 
I think that raising the legal age is a good idea, but like drinking, most under 18s are still going to do it. Especially the ones who started at 16-17 and are now forced to quit.
 
random_pie said:
I think that raising the legal age is a good idea, but like drinking, most under 18s are still going to do it. Especially the ones who started at 16-17 and are now forced to quit.
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No way :D
called cigerette hybernation.
Basically you buy so many fags that you have last you till 18 8)
 
I don't think there's much of a point, people under 18 will still find a way to smoke, just like people under 18 still find a way to drink. They wanna kill themselves; let them :lol:.
 
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