Another Step
Closer to a Smoke Free Future
MPs have agreed further action to protect young people from the
dangers of taking up smoking and to support smokers who are trying
to quit.
At Report stage of the Health Bill in the Commons on Monday, MPs
agreed the Government's proposals which mean that shops
will no longer be allowed to promote tobacco in enticing
multi-coloured displays. MPs also agreed to an amendment tabled by
Ian McCartney MP to prohibit tobacco vending machines. The
Government will take stock and consider how best to take this
important policy forward.
Public Health Minister Gillian Merron said:
“Smoking continues to have a heavy impact on the health of our
communities. Today’s children could be tomorrow’s smokers - these
new plans will help to ensure they are not. Protecting young
people from a lifetime of addiction and possible death and disease
from smoking is crucial, as is supporting smokers who want to
quit.
“The tobacco industry constantly recruits young people to replace
those who give up smoking or die each year and the Government has
a responsibility to find tobacco control policies that stop this
from happening.”
The nuts and bolts of how the Government’s proposed new tobacco
control laws will work in practice are now out for consultation.
The Government is calling for views about key elements of the laws
to make sure they are practical and affordable while still
achieving the Government’s public health policy on combatting smoking.
The consultation gives people the opportunity to comment on the
details of the proposed regulations. It asks for feedback on how
proposals will work in practice, such as:
Keeping tobacco out of sight in shops but ensuring that
shopkeepers are still able to serve their customers and are able
to restock their shelves without breaking the new law.Displaying
price lists so that shopkeepers can continue to trade efficiently
- but making sure the lists don’t use branding or colours in ways
that promote the products.
Gillian Merron said:
“Nobody benefits from impractical or expensive regulations.
That’s why it’s vital that we get feedback from shopkeepers so we
get it right.
“I have already met with retail organisations but it is important
that we hear the views of all interested stakeholders so we can
find the right balance.”
Two thirds of young people who have ever smoked in the UK started
before they were 18. Since the advertising ban in 2002, evidence
shows that the tobacco industry has instead invested in
promotional displays of tobacco in shops. There is clear evidence
these promotional activities encourage children to start smoking.
The Government is committed to reducing smoking rates, including
reducing smoking uptake by young people. In the last decade, the
number of people who smoke has dropped by almost 2.4 million, with
prevalence falling from 28 per cent in 1998 to 21 per cent in
2007. However, more than 80,000 people still die from smoking
related diseases every year in England alone, and it is the
primary reason for the gap in healthy life expectancy between the
rich and poor.
Notes to Editors
The Consultation on proposed tobacco control regulations for
England
(under the Health Bill 2009) can be found at www.dh.gov.uk
Contacts:
Department of Health
Phone: 020 7210 5221
NDS.DH@coi.gsi.gov.uk