Health Promotion Board considering raising minimum cigarette purchase age: reports
The Health Promotion Board is reportedly considering reviewing the minimum cigarette purchasing age in Singapore from 18 to 21, as part of efforts to reduce the number of smokers in the country.
The current legal age to buy cigarettes in the city-state is 18.
According to local media reports, the review follows the increase in number of smokers who quit after the third round of the nation’s anti-smoking campaign took place last year.
Newly released statistics of the campaign were cited, stating that 14 per cent of 3,400 participants who signed up for the “I Quit” campaign quit the habit after six months.
This is higher than the increase after the first lap of the anti-smoking campaign in 2011, whereby an estimated 10 per cent of 1,500 participants had quit.
The deputy director of substance abuse with HPB, Vasuki Utravathy, attributed this growth to the increasing momentum of the campaign, coupled with shared experiences from ex-smokers, said TODAY.
According to the Singapore law, it is prohibited to supply cigarettes to persons under 18 years old. It is also illegal for those under 18 years old to smoke.
