Minors should be fined if they Light Up
Published on November 19, 2009 5:05 AM
Even shopkeepers want to make smoking unlawful for minors. For example, the Australasian Association of Convenience Stores proposed a plan, which enrolled corner stores and petrol stations. According to this plan, children under 18 years old if they will buy cigarettes from these stores would be fined or given a court notice for smoking.
Sheryle Moon, association executive director said that teenage smoking should be treated the same as underage drinking, explaining: "Just as police officers urge alcohol now, they would have the power to enforce underage smoking."
Disappointed that retailers carry the load of underage smoking and face fines of $5500 if they sell to a minor, shopkeepers want parents and children to carry the responsibility too.
"The problem with making smoking illegal is that it turns people into criminals for a bad habit they developed through," one shopkeeper declared. But their proposal, which will be presented to State and Federal Governments this week, has been hit by anti-smoking groups, who said it would criminalize children.
Researchers found that the rate of underage smoking is declining, but unfortunately about 80 percent of smokers started while children. Statistics show that about 70,000 young people start smoking in Australia every year - that's more than 190 a day.
WHO explained that there is nothing to prevent a child from smoking, but fortunately an adult who purchases tobacco products for a minor can face a fine of $2200. Ms. Moon said traders face up to $20,000 in shop renovations to meet the laws, adding it was a disproportionate level of responsibility. But the NSW Cancer Council dismissed this idea, declaring that education was more effective in reducing underage smoking. But instead of the law criminalizing teenagers who smoke, it suggested corner stores and petrol stations just stop selling cigarettes.
Wendy Oakes, the Cancer Council's tobacco unit manager said: "The problem with making smoking illegal is that it turns people into criminals for a bad habit they developed through aggressive marketing by tobacco companies."
