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E-cigarettes, shisha to be illegal from Feb 1 under amended Tobacco Act

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Singapore: Accidental tobacco sales to minors keep health officials on constant vigil

The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has been actively dealing with the problem of tobacco being sold to underage buyers as it is seen as an increasing problem.

http://www.ibtimes.sg/singapore-accidental-tobacco-sales-minors-keep-health-officials-constant-vigil-public-health-18251

Cashiers at the respective shops were either new or judge the buyer based on their appearance, which has sometimes led to the shop’s tobacco license to be suspended.

HSA has been on their constant rounds to make sure this does not occur, by sending officials dressed in plain clothes.

They closely observe the situation which is going on inside the said shop, and if they find that the shop has sold it to someone who is underage, the shop’s license gets suspended or revoked.

A spokesperson for HSA told Channel NewsAsia that the penalty for selling tobacco products to under-aged buyers is a maximum fine of S$5,000, and S$10,000 for subsequent offenses. In addition, the tobacco retail licensee will also be suspended for the first offense and revoked for subsequent offenses, she said.

“If tobacco were sold to under-aged persons in school uniform or those below 12 years of age, the tobacco retail license will be revoked, even at the first offense,” the spokesperson added

A few months ago, Sally Ng, a minimart owner received a frantic call from her employee saying that a member of her staff had sold cigarettes to a student in uniform and that officers from the HSA saw it and revoked the shop’s tobacco licence.

In his defence, the employee who committed the offence said he did not see that the boy was in uniform, as he was holding his bag in front of him.

Sally Ng said the owner, though constantly reminded her employees to check the identity cards of customers who choose to buy tobacco products, failed to prevent the sale to minors.

In a major opeation Channel NewsAsia went to six of the shops to see what the underlying problem could possibly be regarding their offences, which revealed that the cashiers were new, foreign or judged the buyer based on their appearance instead of asking them for their identity cards.

19,000 tickets issued last year for smoking at prohibited areas

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Bill tabled to raise legal smoking age from 18 to 21

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Parliament: Bill tabled to raise minimum smoking age from 18 to 21

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Getting to root of teen smoking

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Smoking ban expanded to include outdoor areas of universities, private-hire cars

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Ban on display of tobacco products to take effect on Aug 1 as grace period ends

After a one-year grace period, the ban on displaying cigarettes and other tobacco products in stores will take effect on Aug 1, the Ministry of Health (MOH) reminded in a news release on Tuesday (Jul 18).

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/ban-on-display-of-tobacco-products-to-take-effect-on-aug-1-as-9041262

Retailers must keep the tobacco products in plain, undecorated storage devices, and out of customers’ direct line of sight.

“Existing display cabinets can be modified to one that is permanently fixed, self-closing and opaque,” said the ministry. “Alternatively, new storage units that meet the same requirements can also be constructed.”

Laws to ban the display of tobacco products were passed in Parliament last March, under amendments to the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Bill. It is part of MOH’s efforts to discourage smoking, particularly among younger people in Singapore.

Under the regulations, the point of sale will remain fixed at the cashier, to reduce the accessibility of cigarettes to youths and non-smokers.

In addition, a text-only price list based on a template prescribed by MOH may be shown to customers only at their request.

Retailers convicted of flouting the ban face a maximum jail term of six months, a fine of up to S$10,000, or both. The penalties are double for repeat offenders.

Curbing teen smoking ‘must go beyond raising minimum age’

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/curbing-teen-smoking-must-go-beyond-raising-minimum-age

Teens below the age of 18 have been barred from smoking legally since 1993 – but the data two decades later tells a different story.

In 2013, the average age when smokers took their first puff was just 16, according to the National Health Surveillance Survey.

Said Mr Vincent Tng, 21, a non-smoker serving full-time national service: “I have friends who started smoking as young as 14 or 15 – they just got their friends to buy cigarettes for them. There are contraband cigarettes around, so you don’t even have to go to a proper shop.”

Experts said the discrepancy shows that efforts to curb teen smoking must go beyond raising the minimum legal age. Issues such as raising awareness and enforcement cannot be sidelined.

Said Sata CommHealth chief executive and anti-smoking advocate K. Thomas Abraham: “We should have a slew of measures that go concurrently with raising the minimum age. How are these young people able to get cigarettes? How do we plug the existing loopholes?”

Last week, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said it plans to raise the minimum legal smoking age from 18 to 21. In Singapore, these are the years when nearly half of smokers become regular smokers. The idea is to put cigarettes out of the reach of underage smokers, who tend to obtain them through their social circles.

A town in the United States known as Needham is often held up as a success story of how this measure can reduce smoking rates.

In 2005, it increased the legal smoking age from 18 to 21. Smoking rates among under-18s dropped by nearly half within five years – from 13 per cent in 2006 to 7 per cent in 2010. At least 215 other locales in the US have followed suit in recent years, including New York City, Boston and California.

Dr Chia Shi-Lu, who chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee for Health, said: “I don’t think that in itself will be enough… but raising the age would help interdict further access to cigarettes amongst the young.”

To complement the move, experts suggested increasing the size of graphic health warnings on cigarette packets, introducing plain packaging to make cigarettes look as nondescript as possible and even raising the tobacco tax.

According to the World Health Organisation, increasing tobacco prices in high-income countries by 10 per cent is estimated to reduce consumption by 4 per cent, said Professor Chia Kee Seng, dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at the National University of Singapore.

Tobacco taxes were last raised in 2014, from $352 per kg to S$388 per kg of tobacco, or 1,000 cigarettes.(+import tax + GST) It was reported that out of the $12 (HKD66) for an average pack of cigarettes, $8.50 (HKD 47) goes to the Government as tax.

Prof Chia said tobacco taxes should be raised further if smoking remains a serious issue, even after the age limit is raised.

At the same time, said Dr Abraham, even more work needs to be done to drive home the anti-smoking message among young people, as “the long-term effects of smoking are not always immediately apparent to a young smoker”.

Nee Soon MP Louis Ng, who used to smoke, said enforcement needs to be stepped up to ensure cigarettes are not sold to underage teens, and more has to be done to change the image of smoking.

“They think it’s cool to smoke and we need to tackle that mindset with a series of public awareness campaigns,” he said.

Management executive Catherine Ruth Jeyaseelan, 34, suggested involving parents too. “Sometimes parents smoke at home and kids will get curious, they might try it when their parents are out.”

Curbing teen smoking ‘must go beyond raising minimum age’

Teens below the age of 18 have been barred from smoking legally since 1993 – but the data two decades later tells a different story.

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/curbing-teen-smoking-must-go-beyond-raising-minimum-age

In 2013, the average age when smokers took their first puff was just 16, according to the National Health Surveillance Survey.

Said Mr Vincent Tng, 21, a non-smoker serving full-time national service: “I have friends who started smoking as young as 14 or 15 – they just got their friends to buy cigarettes for them. There are contraband cigarettes around, so you don’t even have to go to a proper shop.”

Experts said the discrepancy shows that efforts to curb teen smoking must go beyond raising the minimum legal age. Issues such as raising awareness and enforcement cannot be sidelined.

Said Sata CommHealth chief executive and anti-smoking advocate K. Thomas Abraham: “We should have a slew of measures that go concurrently with raising the minimum age. How are these young people able to get cigarettes? How do we plug the existing loopholes?”

Last week, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said it plans to raise the minimum legal smoking age from 18 to 21. In Singapore, these are the years when nearly half of smokers become regular smokers. The idea is to put cigarettes out of the reach of underage smokers, who tend to obtain them through their social circles.

A town in the United States known as Needham is often held up as a success story of how this measure can reduce smoking rates.

In 2005, it increased the legal smoking age from 18 to 21. Smoking rates among under-18s dropped by nearly half within five years – from 13 per cent in 2006 to 7 per cent in 2010. At least 215 other locales in the US have followed suit in recent years, including New York City, Boston and California.

Dr Chia Shi-Lu, who chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee for Health, said: “I don’t think that in itself will be enough… but raising the age would help interdict further access to cigarettes amongst the young.”

To complement the move, experts suggested increasing the size of graphic health warnings on cigarette packets, introducing plain packaging to make cigarettes look as nondescript as possible and even raising the tobacco tax.

According to the World Health Organisation, increasing tobacco prices in high-income countries by 10 per cent is estimated to reduce consumption by 4 per cent, said Professor Chia Kee Seng, dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at the National University of Singapore.

Tobacco taxes were last raised in 2014, from $352 per kg to $388 per kg of tobacco, or 1,000 cigarettes. It was reported that out of the $12 for an average pack of cigarettes, $8.50 goes to the Government as tax.

Prof Chia said tobacco taxes should be raised further if smoking remains a serious issue, even after the age limit is raised.

At the same time, said Dr Abraham, even more work needs to be done to drive home the anti-smoking message among young people, as “the long-term effects of smoking are not always immediately apparent to a young smoker”.

Nee Soon MP Louis Ng, who used to smoke, said enforcement needs to be stepped up to ensure cigarettes are not sold to underage teens, and more has to be done to change the image of smoking.

“They think it’s cool to smoke and we need to tackle that mindset with a series of public awareness campaigns,” he said.

Management executive Catherine Ruth Jeyaseelan, 34, suggested involving parents too. “Sometimes parents smoke at home and kids will get curious, they might try it when their parents are out.”