Nearly half of teenage smokers have bought illegal tobacco, so what are the dangers?
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Andrew Russell, Durham University
New figures show that more than half of all teenage smokers in the north-east of England have bought illegal tobacco.
The figures, from the 2017 North East Illegal Tobacco Survey, found that 55% of children aged 14 and 15 who smoke say they buy illegal tobacco from shops or “tab houses” – while 73% say they have been offered illegal tobacco at some point.
Illegal tobacco is either smuggled, counterfeit (fake), bootlegged or illegally manufactured. It is generally much cheaper than legal tobacco and can be a serious deterrent to people deciding to give up smoking.
These latest findings highlight how as well as adults, illegal tobacco harms young people too. There have even been cases of illicit tobacco being sold to children from ice-cream vans. And sometimes these sales are for single sticks – which are much easier for kids to buy with their pocket money.
Here’s what you need to know about those illegal cigarettes.
1. Illegal cigarettes are just as...
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