Retail stores in Macau have been selling tobacco to teenagers against the law.
Some retailers even go so far as to provide loose cigarettes to students who can't afford a pack.
Critics blame the illegal practice for the rise in the number of teenage smokers in recent years, while calling for tougher law enforcement against it.
The city's decade-old Law for the Prevention and Restriction of Smoking states that tobacco retailers must not provide cigarettes to any person younger than 18.
It also stipulates that a tobacco retailer must check the identity document of any customer who looks underage.
But the law does not say how the practice of selling tobacco to teenagers should be punishable, and many vendors violate it without being punished, according to legislator Au Kam-san.
