As most are aware, on the 1st
of July it will be illegal to smoke on Licensed Premises, then in
October the Smoking age will rise to 18.
This brings a few problems with it. Firstly (and through no fault of the government) my shop shares a Foyer with a night club, nothing fancy just a porch with Glass doors. However as that is classed as part of both our premises it means you cannot smoke in there either. Unfortunately as the Club is downstairs they will have no way to monitor this, so it will be down to us to ask the Clubbers is they could please step outside the Foyer (quite probably out into the rain). Some people react badly at this sort of request when sober, so throw the fact that they may well have had several drinks it leads to a potentially dangerous situation.
It means you have a choice, do you a) risk getting assaulted/potentially even killed or b) do you risk your livelihood by allowing them to stay? Neither option is particularly attractive is it?
We already have this sort of issue when having to inform people that they cannot bring an open container of alcohol onto the premises, but at least then you know they have been drinking and are more prepared for it.
October however is going to be far worse. In the space of 12 hours 17 year olds will find themselves unable to buy Cigarettes, and they are not going to be happy. They may blame the Government but the person who will receive the abuse will be the person refusing service. The Government need to provide intensive support for anyone legally old enough to smoke who won't be in October. Even then not everyone will accept that help. I strongly believe that from October onwards we are going to be seeing a rise in robberies, assaults and theft in premises that sell cigarettes. It is also unlikely to be a short lived thing. I believe the higher level of aggravation will last at least 2 years, there will be people who have turned 16 and are able to smoke just months before they find themselves unable to do so. That means it will be another 2 years before they can purchase them again.
It would be naive to think that these kids will be giving up smoking, most will obtain their cigarettes the way they did when they were under 16, asking adults to buy them for them, getting supplies from abroad and just plain intimidation.
Because most of these kids will still be getting an intake of nicotine the harassment is very unlikely to stop in a short space of time.
I believe that this new smoking age will be useless, children currently smoke well before they are 16 and so it is highly likely that under 18s will still be able to do so. The most desperate may even grow their own tobacco!
I believe that the Government is putting peoples lives on the line by amending the smoking age, and the gamble is highly unlikely to pay off. Make no mistake it is people like me who will be taking the flack when it all hits off, so spare a thought for your local Off-License staff when you next visit we have some rough times ahead of us.
This brings a few problems with it. Firstly (and through no fault of the government) my shop shares a Foyer with a night club, nothing fancy just a porch with Glass doors. However as that is classed as part of both our premises it means you cannot smoke in there either. Unfortunately as the Club is downstairs they will have no way to monitor this, so it will be down to us to ask the Clubbers is they could please step outside the Foyer (quite probably out into the rain). Some people react badly at this sort of request when sober, so throw the fact that they may well have had several drinks it leads to a potentially dangerous situation.
It means you have a choice, do you a) risk getting assaulted/potentially even killed or b) do you risk your livelihood by allowing them to stay? Neither option is particularly attractive is it?
We already have this sort of issue when having to inform people that they cannot bring an open container of alcohol onto the premises, but at least then you know they have been drinking and are more prepared for it.
October however is going to be far worse. In the space of 12 hours 17 year olds will find themselves unable to buy Cigarettes, and they are not going to be happy. They may blame the Government but the person who will receive the abuse will be the person refusing service. The Government need to provide intensive support for anyone legally old enough to smoke who won't be in October. Even then not everyone will accept that help. I strongly believe that from October onwards we are going to be seeing a rise in robberies, assaults and theft in premises that sell cigarettes. It is also unlikely to be a short lived thing. I believe the higher level of aggravation will last at least 2 years, there will be people who have turned 16 and are able to smoke just months before they find themselves unable to do so. That means it will be another 2 years before they can purchase them again.
It would be naive to think that these kids will be giving up smoking, most will obtain their cigarettes the way they did when they were under 16, asking adults to buy them for them, getting supplies from abroad and just plain intimidation.
Because most of these kids will still be getting an intake of nicotine the harassment is very unlikely to stop in a short space of time.
I believe that this new smoking age will be useless, children currently smoke well before they are 16 and so it is highly likely that under 18s will still be able to do so. The most desperate may even grow their own tobacco!
I believe that the Government is putting peoples lives on the line by amending the smoking age, and the gamble is highly unlikely to pay off. Make no mistake it is people like me who will be taking the flack when it all hits off, so spare a thought for your local Off-License staff when you next visit we have some rough times ahead of us.
