Scotland's Doctors Renew Calls For Smoking Age Increase

Scotland's doctors today [Monday 26 June 2006] renewed calls for an increase in the purchase age of cigarettes from 16 to 18 in an attempt to deter young people from taking up smoking at an early age. The calls come as BMA Scotland published a report on the subject on the opening day of the BMA's annual UK conference in Belfast.

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Stop smoking

Saint Anthony Memorial offers No Ifs, Ands or Butts, a free stop smoking clinic, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. July 10, 13, 17, 20, 24 and 31 in the executive board room at the hospital, 301 W. Homer St. This free class is funded by the Master Settlement Grant. Registration is required.

Tough new anti-smoking laws about to take effect

TOUGH new anti-smoking laws are about to come into effect next week, but figures show current laws are hardly being enforced. The government-appointed officers responsible for policing tobacco laws introduced last year have issued an average of less than one fine each per month. And in the past eight years only 13 retailers have been prosecuted for selling cigarettes to minors, despite claims the law is regularly flouted. Since the latest tobacco laws came into effect on January 1 last year, almost 80 Queensland Health Environment Officers (EHOs) have conducted more than 113,300 inspections and issued more than 1000 on-the-spot fines, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health Jo-Ann Miller said.