The Future of Tobacco Control

The Government is currently consulting on 'The Future of Tobacco Control' and identifies four main areas requiring further attention:
1. Reducing smoking rates and health inequalities caused by smoking
2. Protecting children and young people from smoking
3. Supporting smokers to quit
4. Helping those who cannot quit

Just over a year ago, the Government banned on smoking in public places. Likewise it raised the age for buying tobacco products from 16 to 18. According to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) the public are now in favour of further controls to discourage smoking, including 85% who want retailers convicted of selling tobacco illegally to children to be banned from selling tobacco products.

The last decade has seen a decline in the proportion of smokers from 26% to 22%. Yet 87,000 deaths per year are directly attributable to smoking – as the consultation document points out.

In the consultation paper it states quite unsurprisingly: "The chances of being a smoker are substantially greater among people living in rented housing, receiving state benefits, who don't have access to a car, are unemployed or living in overcrowded accommodation". Yet you can sense the incredulity when the following statement "the reasons why this should be the case are not well understood".

It's ironic that the Department of Health does not understand this, when the NHS Direct website clearly states, "unemployment, poverty and lack of education can trigger addictions to develop, as can stress and professional or emotional pressure". As the consultation document notes, smoking remains the primary reason in the gap in life expectancy between rich and poor.

HM Revenue & Customs’ latest estimates on smuggled tobacco show that around 18% of cigarette and 62% of handrolling tobacco consumption is smuggled, while 70% of all large scale cigarette seizures are counterfeit. According to ASH, 1 in 20 smokers in professional groups admit to buying smuggled tobacco but among poorer smokers the figure rises to 1 in 5. This inevitability should encourage the Government to think of other ways other prices rises to tackle smoking.

One of the most publicised suggestions to reducing smoking in the consultation is the plan to ban the display of cigarettes in shops, and to remove branding from cigarette packets so they have "plain packaging" apart from information required by law and health warnings.

Those interested may also want to refer to the Smokefree Action Coalition’s (SAC) recently published ten-point national action plan. SAC comprises most of the major cancer and heart disease charities, trade unions such as the RCN, the Socialist Health Association, and local action groups.

The consultation document 'The Future of Tobacco Control' can be downloaded from the Department of Health website. The deadline for responses is 8th September 2008.