WIREDGOV

Welsh Government Ministers have been on the frontline in Newport to see how a sniffer dog called Phoebe has played a vital role in sniffing out the illegal sale of tobacco to children and young people 

In recent months, Newport’s Trading Standards department, Phoebe and her handler Stuart Phillips have carried out a number of raids on local convenience stores where it was believed counterfeit, illegally labelled tobacco was being sold.

Health and Social Services Minister, Mark Drakeford and Local Government and Government Business Minister, Lesley Griffiths heard how in May, Phoebe found £500,000 worth of tobacco in ingeniously hidden places, including holes in walls. Very large amounts of tobacco were seized and a number of prosecutions will now follow.  

The operations are part of a concerted effort to reduce the sale of tobacco products to under 18s, with the aim of further reducing the number of people who smoke tobacco in Wales.

Tobacco continues to be the largest single preventable cause of ill health and death in Wales, causing around 5,450 deaths each year.

Treating smoking-related diseases costs NHS Wales an estimated £302m per year. Smoking costs the Welsh economy millions of pounds per year, with sickness absence and smoking breaks amounting to just over £90m per year.

The Welsh Government is already pursuing a range of measures in the Tobacco Control Action Plan for Wales, with the overall target of reducing smoking prevalence levels to 16% by 2020.

Mark Drakeford said:

“It was good to be in Newport today to see for myself the work being carried out by Phoebe and Newport’s Trading Standards department to stop the illegal sale of tobacco.

“Over 5,400 people die every year as a result of smoking tobacco – needless deaths that can be prevented. Smoking is one of the main causes of health inequalities, having been identified as a leading cause for the gap in mortality rates between the most and least deprived areas.

“It is nothing short of a tragedy that the lives of so many of our fellow citizens are shortened or blighted by illnesses which were so clearly avoidable. As a government, we are determined to create the social and environmental conditions that are necessary to help foster good health, and providing the services necessary for this. There is a corresponding responsibility on all of us to look after our own health, and access services appropriately when we need to.

“Our landmark Public Health Bill, which will be introduced before the National Assembly for Wales in 2015, will help us achieve the greatest possible improvement in health across the whole of the Welsh population.”

Local Government and Government Business Minister, Lesley Griffiths said:

“It was fascinating watching Phoebe at work. She clearly enjoys her job and seemed to treat the whole experience as a game, which makes the results even more impressive.

“Local Authorities play a significant role in tobacco control, including restricting access to illegal tobacco products, and the service provided to Local Authority trading standards teams by dogs like Phoebe is invaluable. Every time Phoebe sniffs out a stash of illegal tobacco, it is taken off the street.”