A draft law in the UK to create a "smoke-free generation" by banning smoking for anybody born after 2008 has cleared both houses of parliament. Only the king's signature remains for it to become law.
So you’ve never seen an underage person smoke? Kids already ignore the law and get cigarettes from adults or stores that don’t bother checking their ID, so it’s not even a hypothetical, it’s just reality. Prohibition doesn’t work
Consider that the UK is becoming more and more of a surveillance-state, though. I doubt that “store clerk ‘forgets’ to check for ID” is going to stay a thing.
I’m not saying that a black market won’t exist, but it’s going to become more like buying “hard” illegal drugs is today, i.e. much harder than for drugs that are currently legal for all adults.
I certainly never consciously met someone who would sell me illegal-for-adults drugs as a kid.
Sorry to tell you this, but you weren’t one of the cool kids then. People either didn’t like you, or thought you were a snitch, if you’ve never at the very least been offered weed as a kid
So you’ve never seen an underage person smoke? Kids already ignore the law and get cigarettes from adults or stores that don’t bother checking their ID, so it’s not even a hypothetical, it’s just reality. Prohibition doesn’t work
Consider that the UK is becoming more and more of a surveillance-state, though. I doubt that “store clerk ‘forgets’ to check for ID” is going to stay a thing.
I’m not saying that a black market won’t exist, but it’s going to become more like buying “hard” illegal drugs is today, i.e. much harder than for drugs that are currently legal for all adults.
I think you have zero clue how easy it is for children to buy hard drugs
I certainly never consciously met someone who would sell me illegal-for-adults drugs as a kid.
I think you overestimate the willingness of most people to buy illegal drugs.
Sorry to tell you this, but you weren’t one of the cool kids then. People either didn’t like you, or thought you were a snitch, if you’ve never at the very least been offered weed as a kid
OK? That’s not really what this is about. If only “cool” kids can buy drugs, that leaves a large amount of people who can’t.