'Scrap cigarette vending machines,' say Luton youngsters
Teens not questioned when they use machines in London pubs
Two Luton youngsters have shown how easy it is for children to buy cigerettes in a film made by the British Heart Foundation.
The footage, which is part of the charity's campaign to ban cigarette vending machines, featured 15-year olds Cordell Sutherland and Casey Philip from Ashcroft High School in Crawley Green Road.
Cordell and Casey used a hidden camera to secretly record themselves buying cigarettes from machines in three different pubs just yards away from the House of Parliament in London.
Each time they managed to buy cigarettes from the vending machines without being stopped or challenged about their age.
The legal age for buying tobacco products in the UK is 18 and pub licensees are responsible for ensuring vending machines are only used by those who are old enough.
But calculations by the BHF suggest that in 2006 around 45 million cigarettes were sold to youngsters aged 11 to 15 through cigarette vending machines.
The Health Bill, currently going through Parliament, proposes new measures to control the sale of tobacco.
It includes more restrictions on cigarette vending machines but stops short of a full ban.
The film can be viewed online at www.bhf.org.uk/outoforder
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Weather for Luton
Saturday 04 February 2012
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