Tobacco.org

New blitz planned on under-age smoking 

The Tobacco Institute of Hong Kong yesterday launched a new campaign to remind vendors that selling cigarettes to people under 18 is against the law.

The campaign follows a survey by the Committee on Youth Smoking Prevention which revealed that 23 per cent of young smokers bought tobacco products from convenience stores while 48 per cent purchased them from newspaper vendors.

Under the new campaign, the institute has asked all newspaper hawker associations, various retail chain-stores including 7-Eleven, Circle K, Daily Stop, Caltex Oil and ExxonMobil and Express Store, to sign pledges that they will not sell cigarettes to minors. Under the Smoking Ordinance, retailers who sell tobacco products to anyone aged under 18 are liable to a fine of HK$25,000. However, to date no retailer has been convicted.

Responding to criticism of sales of cigarettes to youngsters, the chairman of the Hong Kong Newspaper Hawker Association, Cheung Kwok-ding, instead blamed convenience stores.

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