Tobacco plan to make smoking history for children

The government has launched its new tobacco plan which aims to stop children from starting to smoke as well as help those who do smoke to quit through a package of evidence based measures including removing tobacco displays and consulting on the plain packaging of cigarettes.

All industries use marketing to attract customers and the tobacco industry is no different. New smokers are needed to replace those who have quit or died. Smoking is an addiction of childhood and adolescence with the majority of smokers taking up smoking while still under 18. All tobacco industry products are highly addictive and unfortunately half of all long-term smokers die early as a result. Smoking kills almost 13,000 people each year in the North West, which is more than alcohol, obesity, road accidents and illegal drugs put together.

Dr Jane Rossini, Director of Public Health for NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale welcomed the plan and said: "This plan is proof that there is now a strong consensus that tough action to tackle smoking is the primary public health priority and a strong signal to everyone to protect young people who can be easily attracted to glossy marketing."

Removing tobacco displays has been proven to reduce the attractiveness of smoking for young people in a number of countries where it has been implemented successfully, including in Ireland, where the average cost for small retailers was only £300.

Research shows that, compared to current branding, plain packaging for tobacco products reduces false beliefs about the relative harm of tobacco products, is less attractive, especially to young people and improves the effectiveness of health warnings.

Andrea Crossfield, Director of Smokefree North West said: “The government has proved its commitment to putting children’s health before tobacco industry profits and should be congratulated for doing so.

“We look forward to the UK being the first country in Europe to put tobacco in plain packs, setting the standard for others to follow and for paving the way for making smoking history for all our children in the North West”.