HEALTH watchdogs hope the hassle of filling out forms to get a proposed smoking permit will make more people kick the habit.
Applications for the £10 annual licence for over18s would need proof of age and a passport-style photograph.
The idea has been proposed by Julian Le Grand, who is chairman of Health England and a senior adviser to former Prime Minister Tony Blair.
He believes smokers would be helped to break their nicotine habit if they had to make a decision to “opt in”. The professor, from the London School of Economics, has compiled a paper for Health Minister Lord Darzi on the plan.
He said: “Suppose every individual who wanted to buy tobacco had to purchase a permit.
“And suppose further they had to do this every year. To get a permit would involve filling out a form and supplying a photograph, as well as paying the fee.
“Evidence of age would have to be provided.”
Smokers would be forced to show the laminated photo-card in shops when they bought cigarettes. Cops could demand that any youngsters they catch smoking must flash the pass.
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