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TOKYO — A Japanese woman who allegedly lent her 15-year-old son one of Japan's new "smart cards," which are intended to prevent minors from buying cigarettes from vending machines, may face charges.
The incident comes amid an effort by tobacco makers, retailers and vending machine operators across Japan to require that buyers, who must be 20 or older, use the cards to buy cigarettes from machines. Cigarette purchases at stores don't require a card and or even identification often. Each card — called a "taspo," for "tobacco passport" — is embedded with the user's age on a Mifare chip, a "smart card" technology from Netherlands-based NXP Semiconductors that is popular around the world. Some 4.7 million taspos have been issued, according to the industry group the Tobacco Institute of Japan. But this is the first time police are seeking charges in a taspo card violation, according to local media reports. Smokers must apply for the cards, which are free, and some people hope the process will get smokers to quit, according to Sankei newspaper, which dubbed it "taspo shock." Japan's smoking population, now estimated at 26 million, has dropped every year for nine years. But Japanese males are still among the heaviest smokers in the world, at 53%, compared to 26% of American males but 67% of Chinese men, according to the World Health Organization. The boy's mother, who is 41 — and whose name was not disclosed because she has not been charged — lent him her taspo on Monday so he could buy cigarettes to smoke at home, Fukuoka Prefecture police in southwestern Japan said Tuesday in a statement. The woman faces a maximum penalty of $96. Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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