Smoke-free generation (Raising minimum age of sale of tobacco products)
Minimum age of sale
The minimum age of sale of tobacco products aims to prevent any person under specific age from purchasing tobacco products. According to Tobacco Atlas, over 150 countries have implemented minimum age of sale of tobacco products, of which majority set the minimum age at 18 or 19 years old. Hong Kong has banned tobacco sale to people under age 18 since 1994. Under Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance (Cap. 371), selling any cigarette, cigarette tobacco, cigar or pipe tobacco to any person under age 18 is liable to a maximum fine of HK$25,000 upon conviction.
Majority of smokers start smoking during adolescence and progress to regular smoking by age 21. According to Thematic Household Survey Report No. 70, nearly 70% of daily smokers in Hong Kong started weekly smoking under age 19. Smokers who start smoking at younger age are more likely to have nicotine addiction and less likely to quit smoking. Early smoking initiation also accelerates development of chronic diseases over the lifespan. Nicotine is addictive, and can affect neurodevelopment. Studies showed that prefrontal cortex is still developing through age 25. The developing brain of adolescents is uniquely vulnerable to the harms of tobacco and nicotine use, warranting smoking prevention in adolescents.
Minimum age of sale is a key measure to restrict adolescent access to tobacco products. Raising the minimum age is effective in reducing youth smoking, and protecting their brain and health. A study in the United States showed a greater magnitude of reduction in adolescent smoking in the places where the minimum age of tobacco sale was raised to age 21. The United States then raised the minimum age of sale from 18 to 21 years as a national policy in 2019. Singapore raised the minimum age from 18 to 21 years progressively between 2018 and 2021, where both retailers and customers are liable to legal obligations for the sale of tobacco to underaged persons.
Countries that have raised the minimum age of tobacco sale to 19 years or above:
| Minimum age of tobacco sale | Countries |
| 25 years old or above | Sri Lanka |
| 22 years old | Honduras, Mongolia, Palau |
| 21 years old | Samoa, Singapore, Thailand, United States, Uzbekistan |
| 20 years old | Japan, Korea |
| 19 years old | Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Denmark, France, Jamaica, Panama, Russia, Uruguay, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, etc. |
Smoke-free generation
Smoke-free generation is a policy devised to permanently ban smoking by gradually raising the minimum age of sale of tobacco products. It keeps smoking prevalence reducing, prevents smoking addiction at young age and fosters conditions favorable to tobacco endgame. Under such policy, people born after a designated date cannot buy tobacco products for the whole life. New Zealand has passed the legislation to ban the sale of tobacco to anyone aged 14 years or below, with effect from January 2023. The legal minimum age will be raised annually, implying a life-long cohort ban of smoking to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009. Some countries, such as Malaysia and Singapore, have expressed the intention or are planning to implement smoke-free generation.