Convenience stores pledge not to sell tobacco to minors

In observance of the May 31 World No Tobacco Day, the store chains — 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Hi-Life and OK — signed the pact at the Health Bureau of the Kaohsiung county government, with Magistrate Yang Chiu-hsing and senior officials witnessing.

The stores promised that they will refrain from selling cigarettes to children under 18 years of age and will verify the age of a buyer when in doubt.

They also agreed not to use advertisements or other means to create the wrong impression among the younger generation that smoking is good thing to do, and neither will they distribute free packs of cigarettes to lure youngsters to become addicted to nicotine.

Speaking at the ceremony to mark the signing of the agreement, Yang pointed out that 20 percent of the high school students and 9 percent of the junior high school students in Kaohsiung County are smokers.

He said the county government will try to persuade these youngsters to quit smoking while continuing to push other measures, including making all restaurants in Kaohsiung County smoke-free.

World No Tobacco Day is sponsored annually by the World Health Organization (WHO) to call attention to the global health burden resulting from tobacco use and to encourage governments to work towards stricter regulation of tobacco products.

This year’s observance focuses on secondhand smoke and highlights the progress that has been achieved around the world in protecting nonsmokers by making workplaces and public spaces smoke-free.

According to the WHO, tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world. About 650 million people alive today will eventually die from tobacco-related diseases, including hundreds of thousands of non-smokers who die each year from diseases caused by breathing second-hand tobacco smoke.

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