Some 16 per cent of our young people aged 12-17 years smoke cigarettes. That grim research finding was published yesterday by the Office of Tobacco Control (OTC) and should act as a wake-up call for the Government. The figure promises a continuation of the ill-health, misery and death that goes hand in hand with nicotine addiction. And the price in terms of health costs and lost economic activity will be enormous.
The Government has been basking in the publicity it received from banning tobacco use in the workplace two years ago. As a consequence, it failed to follow through on its promise to prevent point-of-sale advertising. And a ban on the sale of packs of 10 cigarettes was postponed following representations from the tobacco industry. That is not good enough, especially at a time when 16 and 17 year olds are spending €80 a week on cigarettes.
Minister for Health and Children Mary Harney has undertaken to set a new date for the phasing out of packs of 10. But there is no certainty that OTC proposals to limit tobacco use among young people, such as an annual increase in excise duty and a ban on all advertising, will be implemented. Five years ago, Micheál Martin sought the exclusion of tobacco products from the consumer price index to facilitate higher taxes. But nothing has happened.
Apart from the amount of money that youngsters now spend on tobacco, the most disturbing finding was that more than 90 per cent of them were not asked for identification when they bought cigarettes. There is clearly a need for the authorities to address this issue. The electorate would certainly support the Government if it introduced heavier fines and more severe penalties.
Smoking is the biggest preventable cause of death. And four out of five nicotine addicts are "hooked" between the ages of 14 and 18. That is why it is so important to address the issue of young smokers, particularly among lower-income families where the addiction has become most entrenched. But this is not just a Government responsibility. The influence of friends and families is an important factor. Three-quarters of smokers live in homes where there are other tobacco users and an intensive education campaign is required to emphasise the destructive effects of nicotine and dispel the notion that smoking is "cool".
A start has been made with a workplace ban on smoking. But, if our hospitals are not to be overwhelmed every winter by those suffering from nicotine-related illnesses, greater efforts must be made to help young people break the vicious cycle.