The age at which you can buy cigarettes was increased to 18 today.

The British government naïvely believes (or puports to believe) that smoking amongst young people can be cut by increasing the legal age at which you can buy cigarettes.

There is one major flaw in this belief – the minimum age is currently 16 and kids still smoke.  The simple fact of the matter is, kids will still get hold of fags whether the minimum age is 16 or 18.  Ask yourself honestly, could you really make the judgement call whether some young girl, all dressed up, is 16 or 18?  Really?  I know that as I get older I find it harder to guess how old kids are and they all look so much older nowadays.

Kids drink and kids smoke.  There will always be people out there stupid enough to buy fags and booze for them or they’ll have a mate who looks old enough to get served.  In fact, increasing the age at which they can legally buy cigarettes will make them seem even more exciting and kids love nothing more than getting their hands on “adult stuff”.