Children aged 17 or younger to face a lifelong ban on buying cigarettes in the UK

[Pablo 8,585]

4 hours ago, liamgaga said:

What frustrates me is that adults should be allowed to buy and do what they want. Cigarettes are taxed ridiculously high hete anyway which in theory pays for any treatment they need on the NHS in later life. Alcohol has been shown to be just as damaging. Not to mention the side effects of drinking which encourage things like drink driving etc and yet we have adverts for alcohol on TV, billboards, and just about everywhere else. I drink occasionally so im not here on a high horse, but you can't ban one without considering banning the other. Not to mention, in decades time imagine being 50 and wanting to try a cigarette and being asked for ID at the checkout, like wtf? 

Yeah make meth legal! Adults should be able to buy what they want! /S/

 

Cigarettes affect non smokers with second hand smoke so it is different in a way from alcohol. Glad to see it lose popularity. 

[liamgaga 795]

35 minutes ago, Pablo said:

Yeah make meth legal! Adults should be able to buy what they want! /S/

 

Cigarettes affect non smokers with second hand smoke so it is different in a way from alcohol. Glad to see it lose popularity. 

Comparing cigarettes to meth is a little dramatic. I dont think everything should be legal (obviously) but my post was not condoning cigarettes nor was i saying second hand smoke was not an issue. But merely comparing the comparison between smoking and alcohol. 

Watch the tone of your messages, its messages like that that make me want to come on here less and less as I end up getting my head bitten off every time I try and get involved in a post 🙃

[Pablo 8,585]

1 hour ago, liamgaga said:

Watch the tone of your messages, its messages like that that make me want to come on here less and less as I end up getting my head bitten off every time I try and get involved in a post 🙃

Okay mom

[RAMROD 117,114]

2 hours ago, Pablo said:

Glad to see it lose popularity. 

Smoking is experiencing a notable pop culture comeback, with cigarettes being rebranded as a stylish, "edgy" aesthetic in movies, social media, and among celebrities like Sabrina Carpenter, Adisson Rae, Dua Lipa and Charli XCX, among others, who doing it either IRL or in their music videos, or photo shoots. Driven by Gen Z, this trend treats smoking as a visual accessory, appearing more frequently in films, often signaling a "cool," rebellious image.

There's an article about it too: https://theankler.com/p/cigarettes-get-a-sequel-hollywoods

[littlepotter 76,612]

I really don't buy the whole 'prohibition is bad' argument. It doesn't work if you try to stop people who already drink/smoke by banning it. But banning it for people who in theory haven't even tried it yet - I don't see the downside or how the creation of a black market is a negative that would outweigh the way bigger positive of a lot of people never picking it up who otherwise would have. Not everyone is willing to go through black markets or even spend that much effort acquiring something that doesn't even taste good and is just a habit you pick up sometimes by curiosity or peer pressure.

[Bronco 25,131]

51 minutes ago, littlepotter said:

I really don't buy the whole 'prohibition is bad' argument. It doesn't work if you try to stop people who already drink/smoke by banning it. But banning it for people who in theory haven't even tried it yet - I don't see the downside or how the creation of a black market is a negative that would outweigh the way bigger positive of a lot of people never picking it up who otherwise would have. Not everyone is willing to go through black markets or even spend that much effort acquiring something that doesn't even taste good and is just a habit you pick up sometimes by curiosity or peer pressure.

If making it illegal to do something worked.

Then people underage wouldn't drink, smoke or vape.

And some drugs have never been legal in our lifetimes but have big user bases. 

[Ilia Malinin 2,880]

22 hours ago, Bronco said:

Yeah my dad quit smoking and took up vaping and sucks on that vape like its an oxygen mask. 
 

yeah, i stopped smoking and switched to vaping because "oh, it's cheaper than a pack a week" and now i

a) can't stop
b) have a chronic cough

don't vape, kids 

[RAMROD 117,114]

20 minutes ago, Ilia Malinin said:

yeah, i stopped smoking and switched to vaping because "oh, it's cheaper than a pack a week" and now i

a) can't stop
b) have a chronic cough

don't vape, kids 

Is that popcorn lungs? I think that's what it's called.

[PartySick 172,545]

57 minutes ago, Ilia Malinin said:

yeah, i stopped smoking and switched to vaping because "oh, it's cheaper than a pack a week" and now i

a) can't stop
b) have a chronic cough

don't vape, kids 

I'm so glad I never picked up smoking or vaping  

I tried cigarettes for like a week when I was about 18 or 19 and that disgusting dirt taste that wouldn't go away is what made me question why tf anybody would choose to do it.

And then the people I know who vape complain that it tastes like sucking on a fruity battery.

I just don't get it  

[Economy 52,861]

On 4/21/2026 at 10:12 AM, Bronco said:

This will last for about 5 minutes before collapsing. 

It comes with no extra funding to enforce the ban or prevent illegal trading. 
The inevitable consequence will be the expansion of the existing black market for tobacco products which will increase gang activity, further stretch policing resources, increase demands on the health service through the sale of more dangerous unregulated products and cut tax reciepts while creating a growing need for government spending. 

This is a lot of the same arguments the liberal side made for weed and some even for harder drugs (in addition to no one be telling u what to do with your body) and now that its cigaretts instead suddenly everyone is yazzing this

 

Sometimes i think ppl will subconsciously just take the side of whatever is opposite of a different generation or political isle just because were that partizan and dont even think it through

 

Ppl should at least be consistent

 

My personal take, control and regulate it as much as possible and ban advertizing and educate the harm of it in schools in detail. Dont criminalize it as it tends to do more harm than good. Thats my take whether its cigarrets, weed or even harder drugs. Ppl who really want it will buy it from black market anyway and make the whole thing harder to control

Edited April 22 by Economy

[Bronco 25,131]

6 minutes ago, Economy said:

Sometimes i think ppl will subconsciously just take the side of whatever is opposite of a different generation or political isle just because were that partizan and dont even think it through

I mean I'm on the side of data.

Data shows prohibition fails and only serves to drive up criminality and increase the risk to citizens.

Data also shows the best solution is regulation and funding support with stopping.

[littlepotter 76,612]

5 hours ago, Bronco said:

If making it illegal to do something worked.

Then people underage wouldn't drink, smoke or vape.

And some drugs have never been legal in our lifetimes but have big user bases. 

I dont think that's a good argument because you can just start saying "if making it illegal to kill/steal/watch CP/other harmful things"... if you consider "worked" = completely stops, that will never be the case for anything, but it certainly will make it harder, and that already will reduce taking up smoking drastically. I feel like it's a no brainer, i dont understand this huge push back. 

[Bronco 25,131]

6 minutes ago, littlepotter said:

I dont think that's a good argument because you can just start saying "if making it illegal to kill/steal/watch CP/other harmful things"... if you consider "worked" = completely stops, that will never be the case for anything, but it certainly will make it harder, and that already will reduce taking up smoking drastically. I feel like it's a no brainer, i dont understand this huge push back. 

The evidence backs me up though. 

Prohibition increases criminality, creates higher risk factors for the public which in turn drives up the pressure placed on public spending and doesn't lower consumption. 

We know there is a better way on the issue of addictive substances. We have the evidence. Portugal decriminalised drug use in 2001. It led to a 60% rise in people seeking treatment within the first 10 years. It cut HIV infections via drug use by 90%. They have the lowest drug mortality rate in Western Europe cutting it from 131 in 2001 to 20 by 2008. Usage trended down within the first five years. Usage rates amongst adolescents went down. Usage rates are consistent and consistently below the EU average. For the last 20 years the drug use among adolescents was below EU average as well.

The simple fact is clear. Criminalisation of substances does not deter users, or adoption. Health-focused therapeutic responses do.  

The UK has had consistent downward trending smoking since 1974. It's fallen from 45% to 11%. Because there has been consistent focus on healthcare responses to smoking - significant public health campaigns, mandatory education in schools, and NHS funded support to quit smoking. We're proposing throwing away proven policy that is working for a policy that has no evidence base supporting it and the only comparable situations all raise serious red flags about its efficacy. 

[SlowLoris 1,204]

Banning is never the solution for substances.  It only creates more issues in the end

[Onlygaga 1,747]

That’s actually great! I wish something like that would happen here in the US. I’ve been smoking since I was 18. It’s starting to cause heart issues and circulation issues for me at only 28 years old. If we can save anyone from ever trying them, that will be great.