Jump to full article: WalesOnline (uk), 2008-08-14
Author: Madeleine Brindley, Western Mail
Intro: UNDERAGE teenagers are smoking up to 200 cigarettes a week, shocking new research has revealed.
A study by anti-smoking charity ASH Wales found that many are buying smuggled tobacco or are being sold individual cigarettes by shopkeepers who are breaking the law.
It has been illegal to sell single cigarettes in the UK since 1991.
The teen smokers, whose average age is just 14, also find it easy to buy cigarettes in their local corner shops and in supermarkets, despite the age limit on tobacco being raised from 16 to 18.
ASH Wales today called on the Assembly Government to take a lead and consider licensing retailers to sell tobacco in the same way they are licensed to sell alcohol . . .
The shocking research findings come as the Department of Health is consulting on radical proposals to limit the availability of tobacco - these would apply in Wales, England and Northern Ireland.
This includes banning cigarette vending machines and branding on tobacco packaging.
The Scottish Government has also announced a range of proposals
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