When I was a kid, every Christmas and Birthday meant my grandfather would give me a nice card and some lottery scratch cards. It didn’t matter that I was just eight years old, they were a fun and simple way to get me to shut up for a few minutes.

I always wondered if I could buy them for myself. I had a pretty good idea that things like booze, cigarettes and lottery tickets were meant for adults, but I didn’t know if there were any rules about buying those things. Ultimately though, I never got up the courage to find out, because I found the old Korean man at the corner store to be a little too intimidating to challenge.

If any 16 or 17 year olds in UK are having the same feelings that I once did, they better enjoy their freedom to buy scratch cards while it lasts. Sport Minister Mims Davies wants to restrict scratch card sales, and all other lotteries, to 18 and above, she revealed in an interview with The House magazine.

“We need to be very clear that gambling starts at 18 … It’s not to stop people from having fun, but it’s also to protect those most vulnerable people. That’s where the government needs to step in,” Davies said. She specifically mentioned scratch cards as well, which considering my history as a vulnerable eight-year-old, seems fair.