Council Crackdown on Under Age Sales

Council to Crackdown on Under Age Sales

Officers from Magherafelt Council's Environmental Health Department are set to carry out spot checks on local businesses in the coming weeks to ensure shopkeepers are not selling tobacco products and cigarette lighter refills to people under the age of 18 years.

All shopkeepers in the Magherafelt District selling tobacco products (which includes cigarettes, tobacco, cigars and cigarette papers) and cigarette lighter refills containing butane have a legal responsibility to ensure that they are not selling them to young people under the age of 18.

The sale of tobacco and tobacco products is governed by The Health and Social Services (NI) Order 1978, The Children and Young Persons (Protection from Tobacco) (NI) Order 1991 and The Children and Young Persons (Sale of Tobacco etc.) Regulations (NI) 2008. The sale of cigarette lighter refills is governed by The Cigarette Lighter Refill (Safety) Regulations (NI) 1999.

To check compliance with this legislation, Officers' from Magherafelt Council's Environmental Health Department will be carrying out a monitoring programme on the level of compliance by making test purchases from a sample of retail outlets throughout the District during the months of February - March.

This process will involve sending a young person under the age of 18 into the premises to ask for either cigarettes or a cigarette lighter refill. The welfare and safety of the young persons involved in the test purchase exercise is of paramount importance, and the young volunteers are safeguarded at all times.

Any person who sells cigarettes or a cigarette lighter refill to a person under the age of 18 is committing an offence and will be liable to prosecution by the Council. If prosecuted and found guilty the retailer could face a maximum fine of up to £2,500.

It is essential that a young person's health and wellbeing is protected by ensuring that they do not have easy access to tobacco products. There is clear evidence that the younger a person starts to smoke the greater the risk of developing lung cancer, heart disease or disabling respiratory illness.

At least one young person dies in the UK every week as a result of volatile substance abuse; between 1997-2006 there were 33 deaths in Northern Ireland alone. Catriona Davis, Senior Environmental Health Officer with Magherafelt District Council comments, "For the majority of young people 'sniffing' may be an experimental phase, but there is a very real risk of death on the first experiment. Misusing these products may also damage the brain, nervous system, lungs and other major internal organs."

If a retailer is in doubt about a young person's age, they should ask for identification when tobacco products or cigarette lighter refills are sold. Retailers should also ensure that all their staff, whether full or part-time, new or experienced are aware of the legislation and are instructed not to sell these products to anyone under the age of 18 years.

For further information please contact

Catriona Davis

Senior Environmental Health Officer

Magherafelt District Council

Tel: 02879397979

E-mail c.davis@magherafelt.gov.uk