I don’t know what’s scarier:
- My food might be delivered late from 1 January 2020 after all our food delivery friends stop riding on footpath illegally
- The minimum age to smoke from 1 January 2020 will be increased to 20 years old
- Anyone who’s born in 2000 will be 20 years old on 1 January 2020
Oh, wait: so the TikTokers are the ones who can hold a rifle to protect us?
But anyways, if you can’t tell from the headline, this is a PSA for people born in, say, 2001 and above: the age limit to buy cigarettes is going to be increased to 20 next year (currently it’s 19), so you’re fortunate enough not to have touched that toxic Vitamin C.
And…lest you’ve forgotten why this’s happening, here’s why.
Minimum Legal Age to Smoke Will Eventually be 21
Back in 2017, there’s an amendment to the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Bill.
The ultimate goal is to set the minimum legal age for the purchase, use, possession, sale and supply of tobacco products to be 21.
However, instead making the change overnight *coughs*pmd*coughs*, the law will be changed progressively, so that it’ll minimise the impact on smokers who were then between the ages of 18 and 21.
After all, imagine a smoker who was 19 in 2017 knowing that the minimum age has been changed to 21 the next day. That’d be hell for him or her seh.
According to Parliamentary Secretary for Health Amrin Amin, “Quitting is a journey and it will take time for smokers to successfully quit. The phased implementation recognises this.”
Therefore, the change would come in three years:
- From 1 January 2019, the age limit will be 19
- From 1 January 2020, the age limit will be 20
- From 1 January 2021, the age limit will be 21
But why?
Here’s what Mr Amrin said, which kind of sums up everything: “The younger someone tries smoking, the higher the probability of him becoming a regular smoker. Smokers who start earlier also find it harder to quit smoking later in life.”
And here’s a shocking fact: almost 95% of Singaporeans had their first puff before turning 21.
One can only wonder if this would be effective, but one thing’s for sure:
Those smoke breaks that BMT recruits have after every meal would be gone completely soon.
And more NSFs are going to get Gold for their IPPT #justsaying
