# FILE NAME: 00001140.soc
# TITLE: Should the minimum age to purchase tobacco be raised to 21? [024be922d93f0c5c777596780ce07276]
# DESCRIPTION: 
# DATA TYPE: soc
# MODIFICATION TYPE: original
# RELATES TO: 
# RELATED FILES: 
# PUBLICATION DATE: 2025-10-12
# MODIFICATION DATE: 2025-10-12
# NUMBER ALTERNATIVES: 4
# NUMBER VOTERS: 5
# NUMBER UNIQUE ORDERS: 5
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 1: Statement 1 - Tobacco products present a great challenge to public health, government services and the environment. A policy that discourages young people from either starting or continuing to use tobacco products would be a great positive for society. One way to do this would be increase the minimum age to purchase to 21. Further steps could include continually increasing the purchase age, allowing successive governments to phase out the sale of tobacco products more generally.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 2: Statement 2 - In general, the group was in favour of raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco to 21. However, it was also felt that this should be accompanied by a greater focus on educating young people on the dangers of tobacco use. It was felt that this would be a more effective way of preventing young people from starting to use tobacco products, rather than just making it more difficult for them to buy tobacco.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 3: Statement 3 - We believe that the minimum age to purchase tobacco should be raised to 21. We believe that this will help to prevent young people from becoming addicted to tobacco products and will also help to reduce the number of young people who are exposed to second-hand smoke. We believe that it is important to educate young people about the dangers of tobacco products and to help them to make informed decisions about their health. We also believe that it is important to raise the minimum age for tobacco substitutes, such as nicotine vapes and electronic cigarettes, to 21, as this will help to prevent young people from purchasing tobacco alternatives as well as tobacco products.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 4: Statement 4 - Raising the age limit to purchase tobacco to 21 would have a number of benefits, including reducing the level of smoking and health problems caused by it, and making it more difficult for young people to start smoking. However, the policy has some flaws. Teenagers can be highly resourceful, and it is unlikely that raising the purchase age would stop them from accessing tobacco products, and it may only push the problem underground. Furthermore, in this country the number of teenagers smoking is falling, and the number of adults smoking is declining as well, so in some senses the policy would not be the best use of resources to tackle this problem. We would also recommend that this policy is coupled with education, and discouragement of young people starting smoking, rather than a single focus on raising the purchase age.
1: 4,3,2,1
1: 2,1,3,4
1: 1,2,4,3
1: 4,2,3,1
1: 3,2,1,4