Source: topnews.net.nz
Author: Ketan Mukherjee

In England, the legal age limit for purchasing cigarettes has been increased from 16 to 18 years. Because of this, the number of youngsters who start smoking at a very early age has decreased significantly.

Researchers at University College London interviewed as many as 1,000 people aged 16-17 before and after the age limit was changed in the month of October in 2007. It was found that previous to October 2007, 24% of teenagers said that they smoked regularly. After the implementation of the new policy, the number reduced to 17%. The percentage of those above 18 years of age remained the same.

It is worth mentioning that 8 out of every 10 smokers acquired this habit before they reached 19 years of age and diseases like mouth cancer and other problems related to tobacco are increasing rapidly. Researchers believe that the new tobacco law will certainly bring down the number of teenagers who want to go for smoking.

According to Jenny Fidler, one of the researchers of the study, “The new law looks to have helped reduce smoking prevalence among younger age groups”.

He further added that the new law is for the betterment of the young generation of the country. He also said that new law will certainly clamp down on those teenagers who start smoking before 19 years.