Illicit tobacco found in home RESIDENTS are being asked to help keep kids safe and smoke-free by reporting illegal tobacco sales, often from ‘under the counter’ in local shops, so police can get the products off the streets. While less adult adult smokers now buy illegal tobacco (20 per cent in 2018 compared to 16 per cent in 2021), more 15 year olds have been offered illegal tobacco (up from 10 per cent in 2018 to 25 per cent in 2021). These figures come from a Greater Manchester and Social Care Partnership survey which has tracked the size and scale of illegal tobacco after its introduction of a Making Smoking History strategy in 2018.