The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
It is alarming and disgraceful that the proportion of women giving birth in Lincolnshire who are smokers is nearly twice the national average (The Voice, August 24).
With local schools already encountering record proportions of pupils with special needs and the system bursting at the edges, all parties must do their utmost to ensure children in the area are given the best possible start in life.
The importance of applying age-related restrictions on sale of tobacco related products has never been greater.
Local tradesmen and enforcement officers, I am sure, do their best to apply necessary restrictions. However I have observed a repeated bolshiness among tobacco smokers chafing at the necessary application of ID checks.
If you look as though you might be under 25, shop workers are only following guidance by requesting ID, and are legally liable to ensure age restrictions are applied, so it makes no sense to blame them for doing what they have to do. And, speaking as someone who passed that stage many years ago, why is it so offensive to you if you’re lucky enough that anyone thinks that you might look as though you are under 25?
To all smokers, I would firstly say that it would be far better if you did not smoke at all. However, if you must smoke, surely it makes sense for you to act on the expectation that you will be required to prove your age at each purchase and come to the store accordingly provided.
Then please show your ID, and consume your purchase well away from any children!
G Kent
Mountbatten Avenue
Pinchbeck
