As the Government finally moves to enact legislation, the debate continues as to how best to combat smoking among young people. Theresa Judge reports
Notices in last Friday's newspapers inviting submissions on a ban on the sale of packs of 10 cigarettes indicate that the Government is finally about to act on a measure promised in legislation four years ago.
Anti-smoking campaigners have long argued for such a ban as an important measure to reduce underage smoking. The Public Health (Tobacco) Act 2002 provided for such a ban but Minister of State for Health Sean Power said he will introduce it from October 2nd.
While it has been illegal to sell tobacco to teenagers aged under 18 since 2001, when the age was raised from 16, surveys indicate that up to 20 per cent of 15- to 18-year-olds continue to smoke.
This rate is almost as high as that for adults, 24 per cent of whom now smoke, according to the latest figures from the Office of Tobacco Control.
Surveys by the office have also found that 92 per cent of under-18s who bought cigarettes were not asked for ID on the previous occasion they had bought them.
The Department of Health accepts that "a worrying trend" emerged from a 2002 Slán survey, which showed that while smoking rates were declining across nearly all age groups, the only group for which there was an increase was boys aged 15-17.
This study found that 19 per cent of school-going children smoked, down from 21 per cent in 1988.
The British government also announced last week that it plans to raise the legal age to 18 and to introduce tougher penalties for retailers who sell tobacco to underage smokers. In opening a public consultation period on the measures, British public health minister Caroline Flint pointed out that the younger people start smoking the more likely they are to become life-long smokers and to die early.
Someone who starts smoking at 15 is three times more likely to die of cancer due to smoking than someone who starts in their late 20s.
The price of cigarettes is widely accepted as being the single biggest determining factor in underage smoking and the chairman of the anti-smoking lobby group Ash, Prof Luke Clancy, criticised the Government for failing to raise the price of cigarettes in the last two budgets.
"The result is that cigarettes are now relatively cheaper than they were two years ago. Having the legislation is great but just putting it in a statute doesn't make it happen, especially when the main determinant - the price - is being ignored," he says.
Ash argues that given the increasing wealth in Ireland and the very high proportion of young people who now work, it is not enough just to raise the price in line with inflation.
Clancy said that while Ireland had won great praise for the workplace smoking ban, there was now "a danger of resting on our laurels", with other important measures not being taken. "It would appear that we are becoming a bit complacent or in danger of it."
Some other measures sought by anti-smoking groups and provided for in the 2002/2004 Acts have been held up by a legal challenge by the tobacco industry, a case which the Department of Health says is expected to start before the end of the year. One of these measures concerns point-of-sale advertising.
Anti-smoking campaigners want cigarettes to be kept "under the counter" completely out of view of shop customers, but the industry is challenging this.
Dr Fintan Howell, a board member of Ash, says the problem with the way cigarettes are currently sold is that "an absolutely deadly product" is on display beside innocuous products like newspapers and sweets. "Tobacco is a deadly product that will significantly addict most of those who use it and kill half of them. This is no ordinary product and yet it sits in a prime location in every shop."
Howell argues that cigarettes manufactured by competing companies are currently displayed together in "a power wall of advertising" inside shops, which does not happen with any other product. He says the fact that the tobacco industry is fighting this issue so vigorously in the courts is an indication of how important it is to sales.
However, the Convenience Stores and Newsagents Association is backing the tobacco industry in opposing any move to place cigarettes under the counter. Its chief executive, Vincent Jennings, points out that the 2002/2004 Acts, which are being contested, do not make any mention of "under the counter" but refer to keeping cigarettes in locked and sealed containers only visible to shop staff.
Jennings says his association is arguing that to have cigarettes under the counter would put staff at risk of repetitive strain injuries from bending down. He says documentary evidence of this has been supplied to the Department of Health.
He says there are also consumer legislation requirements to allow customers see the product they are buying.
Jennings says retailers have tried to work with health authorities and his association encourages shop owners to tell staff that selling cigarettes to under-18s is a sacking offence. He also stresses that cigarettes are a legitimate product. Some 58 million packets of cigarettes were sold in the Republic last year and, for many small shops, they represent up to 40 per cent of turnover.
Jennings says there should be agreed protocols between the health authorities in different regions because there are "massive variations in policies and procedures and budget allocations". He says he would not defend anybody who sold tobacco to minors but that "accidents will happen" and it was not fair for some retailers to suffer disproportionately.
Another measure demanded by anti-smoking groups, which has proved effective in combating teenage smoking in Canada, is the use of graphic images showing the damage caused by tobacco on cigarette boxes. Belgium is to become the first EU country to introduce this next year.
In a statement, the Department of Health said this measure was being considered.
One retailer said it was "a nightmare" trying to enforce the legislation. Don MacGreevy, of MacGreevy's Newsagents in Westport, Co Mayo, said they never sell cigarettes to young people without seeing either Garda ID or a passport.
All his staff also sign a statement on starting the job accepting that they will be fired if they sell cigarettes to under-18s.
Acknowledging he is probably more anti-smoking than most retailers in favouring a €1 price rise on cigarettes, he says on one occasion he challenged a pensioner who he knew was buying cigarettes for teenagers.
"A big problem we have is people coming in buying three packs of 10 - we know in our heart and soul that they are buying them for kids but there is nothing we can do."