Legal Age to Smoke in Victoria

There are also laws on smoking and vaping near public playgrounds. It is illegal for someone to smoke within 10 meters of a public playground (this does not apply to someone smoking in the car). Overall, weak laws and ineffective enforcement result in poorer compliance by retailers and have minimal impact on teen smoking rates.7-9 Conversely, strong laws and enforcement programs reduce illicit sales and can help reduce youth smoking.8,9,41-43 Community care facilities, Serviced residences and hospitals may designate specific rooms. where residents or patients can smoke or vaporize cannabis. If you have found it difficult to quit smoking and continue to smoke or vape, share your experience with your child. 56. Leave Victoria. Tobacco control in Victoria. 2014.

Available from: www.quit.org.au/downloads/tackling-tobacco-in-victoria-2014-state-election.pdf It is illegal to sell nicotine e-cigarettes and liquid nicotine to people who do not have a valid prescription from a doctor. It is illegal to sell tobacco or e-cigarette products to anyone under the age of 18. The person selling the product and their employer can get into trouble unless the employer can prove that they had no knowledge of the crime and that they had properly trained their safe. The best way to protect your children is to never smoke or vape in the house or other places where there are children nearby. Smoking burns something to inhale smoke into the lungs, such as a cigarette. Vaping is the inhalation of vapor from a heated liquid. Figure 5.21.1 Percentage of current smokers aged 12 to 15 and 16 to 17 who buy cigarettes for themselves, 1987 to 2017 The IOM report concludes that raising the minimum age for smoking would likely prevent or delay the initiation of use among adolescents and young adults. While the changes will directly affect those aged 18 and older, the greatest proportional reduction in tobacco use is likely to occur among adolescents aged 15 to 17. Modelling commissioned by the Institute of Medicine found that raising the legal minimum age to a decrease in smoking prevalence would decrease by about 3% to a legal minimum age of 19, by 12% to a legal minimum age of 21 and by 16% to a legal minimum age of 25.

This goes beyond the decline projected in the business-as-usual scenario. For the figures for the minimum legal age of 19 and 21 years, the certainty is greater than for 25 years, as a higher extrapolation is necessary. The report states that concerns about young people`s vulnerability to dependency and immaturity of judgment justify restricting access for minors. With respect to the age at which access to tobacco should become legal, evidence suggests that skills related to mature judgment, particularly in emotionally charged situations where peer influence plays a role, continue to develop until the early 20s. Young people in their late teens and early 20s may also have an increased risk of becoming addicted to nicotine due to neurodevelopment. The data strongly suggest that if a person has not been a regular tobacco user for 25 years, they are very unlikely to become one. As shown in Figure 5.21.1, the proportion of current high school smokers in Australia who buy cigarettes for themselves has declined significantly over time, particularly among younger age groups. While data from the 2019 National Anti-Drug Strategy Household Survey show that most smokers started smoking before the age of 18 (64.2%), the proportion of people who smoke their first full cigarette after the age of 18 (18 to 49) increased significantly in 2019 (35.8%) compared to 2016 (31.4%). In addition, the proportion of people who smoke their first full cigarette at age 13 or younger declined significantly in 2019 (15.3%), down 2.7 percentage points from 2016 (18.0%).11 The proportion of Australians who have ever smoked a full cigarette and did so at age 18 has almost doubled since 2001 (see Section 5.19). A number of Australian health experts, politicians, philanthropists and health groups have suggested raising the minimum age to buy tobacco.12-19 See section 5.21.3 (below) for an overview of the evidence supporting this approach.

Results from the National Drug Strategy National Household Survey, 2019, show that the majority of Australians aged 14 and over support raising the legal age to sell or dispense tobacco products from 18 to 21 years or older (63.1% +/- 0.9%). xviii, 20 This support was stronger among women (65.9% +/- 1.1) than men (60.3%+/-1.3%) and stronger among the Australian population aged 70+ (69.5%+/- 1.9) than among 30-39 year olds (66%+/- 1.9%) or 15-24 year olds (55.9%+/-2.8%). Non-smokers (69.3%+/- 1.1%) and ex-smokers (57.7%+/-1.6%) were also more supportive of raising the legal age than current smokers (44.6%+/- 2.4%).20 A 2020 research paper examining public support for tobacco laws21 using data from the Four Countries International Tobacco Survey for Smoking (ITC) found strong support (65%) among current and former Australian smokers in Promoting raising the minimum age for purchasing tobacco products from 18 to 21. with a large majority of supporters over the age of 20.21 In 2017, most (84% of) Australian high school students who currently smoke (smoke at least once a week) did not buy their last cigarette themselves. The most common way for Australian teens to access cigarettes was through friends (48% of current smokers aged 12-17), followed by buying the cigarettes themselves (16% of current smokers aged 12-17) and asking them to buy someone else to buy them (15% of current smokers aged 12-17).10 The likelihood of making an in-person purchase increased with age, from about 8% of 12-year-olds to about 21% of 16-year-olds. Male female students smokers aged 16 to 1217 were more likely to buy their own cigarettes than female smoking students in the same age group.10 Figure 5.21.1 shows the percentage of current high school students who bought cigarettes for themselves between 1987 and 2017, starting with those aged 12 to 15. then for 16 to 17 year olds. While it would take decades for all the benefits of preventing the onset of tobacco to take effect, some direct health benefits, including those from reduced exposure to second-hand smoke, would be felt immediately. If you are caught smoking or vaping in a supposedly smoke-free area, you can: It is not illegal for youth under the age of 18 to smoke cigarettes. However, there are laws that attempt to restrict young people`s access to these laws. There are penalties for the sale and delivery of cigarettes and e-cigarettes to youth.

The Tobacco Act 1987 (the Tobacco Act) regulates where you can smoke or vape, as well as the sale and advertising of tobacco products and e-cigarettes. In 2019, a law was proposed in Hawaii that would have gradually raised the minimum age to buy tobacco to 100. The bill, introduced by Democratic Representative Richard Creagan, proposed a gradual increase in the legal age of purchase from 21 to 30 by 2020, 40 by 2021, 50 by 2022, 60 by 2023, and then 100 years by 2024, thus banning the sale of cigarettes in Hawaii. The proposal was not adopted at the time.65 For more information on banning smoking in outdoor dining areas, see Smoke-Free Outdoor Dining. As of August 1, 2017, it is also illegal to smoke or vape in outdoor food areas of restaurants, cafes, takeaways and licensed establishments. Smoking of cigarettes, including e-cigarettes (whether or not containing nicotine) is prohibited on school grounds and within 4 metres of pedestrian entrances to school property. Smoking in these places is a criminal offence. Guests registered at the hotel can smoke or vaporize cannabis in their hotel room if the hotel allows it. In March 2015, the Tasmanian Parliament debated a Public Health Amendment (Tobacco-free Generation/TFG) Bill 2014 that would have made it illegal to supply tobacco to all people born after 2000 from 2018. The bill was introduced by an independent member of the Legislative Council, Ivan Dean, and aimed to create a generation of people who are not exposed to tobacco products. It was one of the most important global attempts at the time to phase out smoking.