As of right now, no one under the age of 14 can ever lawfully purchase cigarettes or other tobacco products, thanks to King Charles III’s confirmation today that the UK government will propose legislation to raise the tobacco selling age.
Following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s pledge to usher in the first generation of smokers at the Conservative party conference last month, the news was made in the King’s Speech during the official opening of Parliament.
The King-introduced Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which also addresses youth vaping, aligns with government initiatives to increase financing for community-based stop-smoking services and allocate funds for public awareness campaigns aimed at motivating individuals to give up smoking.
For ten years, Cancer Research UK has been assiduously advocating for measures related to smoking cessation. The organization has pushed the government to prioritize cancer research and has disseminated studies that bolster our policy requests. With their #SmokefreeUK campaign last year, they united everything, with supporters urging their MPs to become “Smokefree MPs.”That the UK government has been taking notice pleases us. They now want Northern Ireland, Wales, and Scotland’s devolved administrations to take the lead.
