CONFERENCE PROCEEDING
Tobacco 21 policies in Europe: a distant future or the next vital step to achieve a tobacco-free generation?
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1
European Respiratory Society’s Tobacco Control Committee, Brussels, Belgium
 
2
Department of Child Health, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
 
3
Respiratory Department, Children’s Health Ireland, Crumlin, Dublin, Ireland
 
4
Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
 
5
European Respiratory Society, Advocacy and EU Affairs, Brussels, Belgium
 
 
Publication date: 2023-04-25
 
 
Corresponding author
Polina Starchenko   

European Respiratory Society, Advocacy and EU Affairs, Brussels, Belgium
 
 
Tob. Prev. Cessation 2023;9(Supplement):A176
 
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
As smoking prevalence remains high in Europe (18.4%)1 with only 4 % of smokers starting older than at the age of 252, many countries are examining tobacco endgame policies which aim to rapidly reduce smoking prevalence to minimal levels. One such policy is raising the tobacco age-of-sale from 18 to 21 years of age, commonly referred to as “Tobacco 21”. The European Respiratory Society (ERS) assessed data on Tobacco 21 + implementation to provide evidence-based conclusions and recommendations to medical and tobacco control community as well as to policy makers.

Material and Methods:
Authors analysed both modelling studies3 on predicted benefits of Tobacco 21 policy and real-world data measuring effects of already implemented Tobacco 21 laws4,5,6.

Results:
Evidence demonstrates that raising the age-of-sale of tobacco products to 21 years has resulted in decreased youth tobacco prevalence and delayed smoking initiation. In addition, Tobacco 21 has strong public support and there is now mounting evidence for policy makers across Europe to implement this measure into law7,8,9.

Conclusions:
As more countries press forward with the tobacco endgame agenda, Tobacco 21 is likely to be an important milestone in the journey towards a tobacco-free generation. ERS strongly recommends that governments introduce Tobacco 21 policies.

 
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Bonnie RJ, Stratton K, Kwan LY. Public Health Implications of Raising theMinimum Age of Legal Access to Tobacco Products. Public Heal Implic Rais Minim Age Leg Access to Tob Prod 2015;1–378.doi:10.17226/18997.
 
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Schneider SK, Buka SL, Dash K, Winickoff JP, Donnell LO. Community reductions in youth smoking after raising the minimum tobacco sales age to 21. Tob Control 2016;25:355–359.
 
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Friedman AS, Wu RJ. Do Local Tobacco-21 Laws Reduce Smoking Among 18 to 20 Year-Olds? Nicotine Tob Res 2020;22:1195–1201.
 
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Trapl E, Pike Moore S, Osborn C, Gupta N, Love TE, Kinzy TG, Kinsella A, Frank S. Evaluation of Restrictions on Tobacco Sales to Youth Younger Than 21 Years in Cleveland, Ohio, Area. JAMA Netw open 2022;5:E2222987.
 
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Delivering a Smokefree 2030: The All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health recommendations for the Tobacco Control Plan 2021. https://ash.org.uk/resources/v...- group-on-smoking-and-health-r. Accessed 19/1/23
 
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Winickoff JP, McMillen R, Tanski S, Wilson K, Gottlieb M, Crane R. Public support for raising the age of sale for tobacco to 21 in the United States. Tob Control 2016;25:284–288.
 
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Bringing the Tobacco Epidemic to an End. At https://www.hse.ie/eng/about/w... Accessed 19/1/23.
 
eISSN:2459-3087
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