Irish Health Minister Proposes Raising Legal Smoking Age to 21

According to Irish media TheJournal, on May 13th, Irish Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly will seek cabinet support for a landmark law that would raise the minimum legal age for the sale of tobacco products from 18 to 21 years old.

This reform aims to reduce the number of smokers, despite a decline in smoking rates in the country, the rate of smoking has stabilized, with 18% of Irish adults smoking. The legislation will not affect the current 18 to 21-year-olds who are already allowed to purchase tobacco products, there is a "transition period" in place for this group, but it is not yet clear how long this transition period will last.

This age group is considered to be at high risk for starting smoking. Tangnali has already taken measures to address e-cigarettes and has enacted laws prohibiting the sale of e-cigarettes to minors under 18 years old.

On the other hand, a bill banning the sale of tobacco and e-cigarette products from vending machines will soon come into effect, and a licensing system will mean that businesses selling these products will have to pay an annual fee. The Health Minister has promised to impose further restrictions on the sale of e-cigarettes and tobacco products, with a second law currently being drafted.

Although the minimum legal age for tobacco sales has been raised in some areas of the United States and Canada, Donald's proposal does not reach the level of law planned by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who plans to raise the legal age for cigarette sales by one year annually, meaning those born in 2009 or later will never be able to legally purchase cigarettes.

However, in Ireland, smoking and secondhand smoke still lead to nearly 6000 deaths each year. Deaths caused by smoking are mainly due to cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and heart disease. Cigarettes contain over 4000 toxic chemicals, many of which have been proven to cause cancer.