OLI SCARF / AFP
In the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak wants to gradually ban the sale of cigarettes (Photo by Rishi Suna on October 4, 2023)
UNITED KINGDOM – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Wednesday his intention to extend the ban on cigarette sales so that the United Kingdom can gradually become a tobacco-free country.
“I propose that in the future we raise the (legal) smoking age by one year every year,” said the conservative head of government in a speech at his party conference in Manchester (northern England).
“That means that a 14-year-old can never legally be sold a cigarette today,” he said, speaking of a “tobacco-free generation.”
Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the UK
Currently, the legal minimum age to buy cigarettes in the UK is 18. But “four out of five smokers started smoking before the age of 20,” said Rishi Sunak. “We have to try to stop young people from starting to smoke.”
“This could almost completely eliminate smoking among young people by 2040,” Downing Street said in a statement.
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the UK, the statement said. It is the cause of about one in four cancer deaths. The costs that arise, particularly for the health system, amount to almost twenty billion euros per year.
“Smoking will not be criminalized and our progressive approach means that anyone who can legally buy cigarettes today will not be prevented from doing so in the future,” Downing Street said.
Protecting young people from addiction
If these measures are taken, the UK will follow the example of New Zealand, which is gradually introducing a near-total tobacco ban by indefinitely preventing people born after 2008 from buying cigarettes and “by reducing the amount of nicotine in the available products.”
“Raising the legal age to purchase tobacco is an important step in protecting children and young people from addiction,” said Nick Hopkinson, professor of respiratory medicine at Imperial College London, also urging smokers to stop using tobacco.
“This is fantastic news and could become one of the most important public health measures in a generation,” said Jamie Brown, director of the Alcohol and Tobacco Research Group.
Law against “vaping”
The British government also announced a consultation on e-cigarettes on Wednesday to limit its appeal and access to young people. “Use of e-cigarettes among young people has tripled in the last three years,” says Downing Street. “We must act before the phenomenon becomes endemic.”
On the stock market, tobacco companies fell following the prime minister’s announcement, with shares in British American Tobacco down 1.81% and Imperial Brands down 3.42% at around 3:00 p.m. GMT.
A spokesman for Imperial Brands, owner of the Gauloises or Winston brands, quoted by the PA agency, assured that he “understands” the government’s desire to combat the health risks associated with tobacco, but warned that “like any ban (this Measure) risks with significant undesirable consequences.”
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