Our paper investigates the effect of tobacco control policies on the age of onset of smoking in 11 European countries. Using longitudinal data based on retrospective information, we use hazard rate analysis to model the dynamics in the uptake of smoking. Thus we are able to take into account observable and unobservable personal characteristics as well as the effect of the introduction of a variety of tobacco control policies including bans on tobacco advertisements, smoke-free air regulation, health warnings on packages of cigarettes and treatment programs to help smokers quitting. We find that none of the tobacco control policies influence the age of onset of smoking.