#Notafavour blog aimed at 18 to 24’s

This blog can be set up as a hyperlink to the Young Scot website. It is part of their choices for life section: http://young.scot/choices-for-life/articles/buying-alcohol-and-cigarettes-for-under-18s/

Use the campaign logo to accompany the article, and consider using other campaign images such as the postcard or email footer.

It is designed to alert older young to the harm they do when:

Buying Alcohol and Cigarettes for Under 18's

http://young.scot/choices-for-life/articles/buying-alcohol-and-cigarettes-for-under-18s/

You are hanging out with your mates and one of them asks you to buy them some fags and some booze because you are 18. Are you really doing your mate a favour if you buy them? What do you do?

Or…..

You are on the way to a corner shop and a group of kids are hanging about trying to get adults to buy them fags and booze. They don’t have ID and say they’ll give you cash to buy stuff for them. What do you do?

Aside from the fact that buying these age restricted products for someone under 18 could land you with a criminal record and a hefty fine, you really aren’t doing them a favour.

You are buying one of the most addictive substances and increasing their chances of becoming a lifelong smoker. Plus the earlier someone starts, the longer they will spend smoking, which means the risk of them developing lung cancer or any of the many smoking-related health problems in adulthood also increases.

And when it comes to alcohol… think about the effect of a can of beer or two on someone that’s still of school age.

Every year thousands of young people under 18 end up in A&E in Scotland due to alcohol related incidents - things like choking on vomit after drinking too much, passing out in the park and risking hypothermia, running across railway lines, jumping in front of cars…

Again early damage is caused to developing bodies and brains and can lead to poorer health in later life and a greater risk of developing a dependency on alcohol.

So next time you get asked to buy fags or booze for someone younger than you, just think, are you really doing them a favour?

Check out the notafavour campaign.

Find out more about smoking and the law, and what alcohol does to your body.