Today Rishi Sunak (UK Prime Minister) announced a new plan to combat smoking and youth vaping.
At first glance you may think this is all about smoking – but dig a bit deeper and there is a threat to vaping too.
You can download the full command paper here, but I will just summarise the main points.
Smoking
The main announcement was the fact that tobacco purchasing will be banned for anyone born on or after January 9th 2009.
Basically children who are under 14 will never be able to legally purchase tobacco products.
The restriction is imposed on the sellers of the products. The purchasers will not be criminalised.
Also this method ensures that those who are legally able to purchase tobacco right now will not be prevented from doing so in the future.
Quitting Smoking
A raft of new measures will be introduced to help people quit smoking.
The government is investing…
- an additional £70 million per year to support local authority-led stop smoking services (SSS) – more than doubling current spend from £68 million per year (to a total of £138 million) and supporting around 360,000 people to set a quit date each year
- an additional £5 million this year and then £15 million per year after to fund new national anti-smoking campaigns – a substantial uplift on current spend
- up to £45 million over 2 years to roll out our new national ‘Swap to Stop’ scheme – supporting 1 million smokers to swap cigarettes for vapes
- up to £10 million over 2 years to provide evidence-based financial incentives to support all pregnant smokers to quit
Vaping
Sadly the government are also trying to get their claws into vaping.
The main reason is to help prevent youth vaping.
The proposals the government are investigating include…
- restricting vape flavours
- regulating vape packaging and product presentation
- regulating point of sale displays
- restricting the sale of disposable vapes
- introducing an age restriction for non-nicotine vapes
- exploring further restrictions for other nicotine consumer products such as nicotine pouches
- preventing industry giving out free samples of vapes to children
Other Nicotine Products
The government will be consulting on regulation for other methods of nicotine consumption such as pouches later this month.
Apparently there may become a problem with youth use of other nicotine products and there are no age of sale restrictions but the government does have the power to implement these.
Enforcement
As new regulations are introduced in addition to existing regulations, enforcement really does need to be ramped up.
The government state they will be investing in enforcement, including…
- providing £30 million additional funding per year (from April 2024) to support enforcement agencies such as Trading Standards, Border Force and HMRC to implement and enforce the law (including enforcement of underage sales) and tackle illicit trade
- introducing new powers for local authorities to issue on-the-spot fines (Fixed Penalty Notices) to enforce age of sale legislation of tobacco products, as well as vapes
- enhancing online age verification to stop underage sales of tobacco products and vapes online
HMRC and Border Force steps…
HMRC and Border Force will be publishing an updated Illicit Tobacco Strategy, which will:
- set out plans to target illegal activity at all stages of the supply chain to stamp out opportunities for criminals in light of the new rules.
- establish a multi-agency Illicit Tobacco Taskforce, led by HMRC and Border Force, to oversee future evolution of our illicit tobacco strategy
Responses
Many of the main THR (Tobacco Harm Reduction) groups have published responses and they are covered in separate articles below…
IBVTA – IBVTA welcomes tobacco phase out but highlights role of vapes as smoking cessation tool.
WVA (World Vapers’ Alliance) – Sunak’s cigarette ban misses the point on reducing smoking rates.
London Tobacco Alliance – London Tobacco Alliance Response To Rishi Sunak’s Announcement On Smoking.
ASH – APPG Smoking & Health and ASH Welcome Rishi Sunak’s Announcement On Smoking.
Science Media Centre – Expert Reaction To Rishi Sunak’s Announcement On Smoking.
Twitter / X Responses
As you can imagine there is a very mixed response to the news – I will include a few below.
Our response to @RishiSunak announcement today on smoking.https://t.co/94XgJzIu4T#smokefreeuk #ToryConference #vaping #London
— London Tobacco Alliance (@LTA_London) October 4, 2023
PM is absolutely right to back this key recommendation of the Khan review, which I commissioned as Health Secretary.
Bold action is needed against the biggest preventable killers – not only for the health of hard hit communities, but NHS reform focused on prevention. https://t.co/byfwceO10L
— Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) October 4, 2023
Smoking causes multiple harms including stillbirths, lung disease, heart disease, stroke and dementia. A quarter of cancer deaths are caused by smoking.
Most smokers regret starting.
This will prevent ill health, disability and death. https://t.co/0e8uNUItSd
— Professor Chris Whitty (@CMO_England) October 4, 2023
So we are:
– Creating the first smokefree generation – so children born on or after 1 January 2009 can never buy cigarettes.
– Doubling funding of local Stop Smoking services.
– Strengthening enforcement activity with new funding and new powers to fine rogue retailers.
(3/8)— Neil O’Brien MP (@NeilDotObrien) October 4, 2023
1/ In the UK smoking causes 1 in 4 cancer deaths.
So I’m proposing changing the law so children turning 14 or younger this year can never legally be sold cigarettes in their lifetime.
A smoke-free generation.
None of us want our children to grow up to smoke.
Here’s why 👇🧵 pic.twitter.com/pbym3E6cck
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) October 4, 2023
And here’s the detail what will support the main announcement:
– £30m for trading standards, HMRC and border force
– £70m for stop smoking services
– £15m for tobacco marketing campaigns
– Roll out of ‘swap to stop’https://t.co/Rkw8AWnjuU https://t.co/vIS717qZKB— Adam Briggs (@ADMBriggs) October 4, 2023
“I propose… we raise the smoking age by one year every year”
PM Rishi Sunak says “we must try and stop teenagers taking up cigarettes in the first place”https://t.co/mzLat7SSy5 pic.twitter.com/wqXDBB2o5o
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) October 4, 2023
🗣️ Our Director of Research, @maxwell_marlow, responds to Prime Minister’s announcement that the government will raise the smoking age every year by one year 👇 pic.twitter.com/WktUREEKYB
— Adam Smith Institute (@ASI) October 4, 2023
Following on from Aotearoa’s Smokefree 2025 rules, if enacted, this could be one of the most important legacies of the current government, helping to reduce unnecessary deaths & health inequalities #tobaccoendgame https://t.co/thH9N6QsWX
— Lion Shahab (@LionShahab) October 4, 2023
My comment on tobacco prohibition. https://t.co/OMv8oDvDM3 pic.twitter.com/3cVVaZwCDP
— Christopher Snowdon 🇺🇦 (@cjsnowdon) October 4, 2023
Rishi is dead wrong with his generational smoke ban – read here why https://t.co/IczTriEK3C @ConsumerChoiceC
— Frederik Cyrus Roeder 🇺🇦 (@FredCyrusRoeder) October 4, 2023
“And by the way, I’m banning cigarettes and Elf Bars.” pic.twitter.com/3M5sWsq99N
— Christopher Snowdon 🇺🇦 (@cjsnowdon) October 4, 2023
🇬🇧Restricting flavours & banning disposable vapes threatens to undermine achieved gains and put the United Kingdom at odds with its own best practices.https://t.co/zBo404qgfk #FlavoursMatter #Vaping
— Michael Landl (@LandlMichael) October 4, 2023
A historic day in the ambition to make smoking history! Fantastic to see commitment from the Prime Minister to tackle the harms of tobacco and create a smokefree generation. #SmokefreeFuture pic.twitter.com/Y4fSdhKsLD
— Make Smoking History | Greater Manchester (@HistoryMakersGM) October 4, 2023
80% of people who smoke before start before the age of 20.
Raising the legal age to buy cigarettes every year will mean that someone aged 14 today will never be able to buy them legally.
This will help prevent a future generation from becoming addicted to cigarettes.— KCL Nicotine Research Group (@KingsNRG) October 4, 2023
ASH Deputy Chief Executive @HazelCheeseman on today’s news.
“Alongside a package of support to help those who already smoke to quit, this will really set us on the path to achieve that [Smokefree 2030] ambition.” pic.twitter.com/HIjtFji0No
— ASH (@AshOrgUK) October 4, 2023
ASH welcomes the PM’s “unprecedented” announcement today, which will help deliver a #SmokefreeFuture for all and help with #MakingSmokingObsolete. pic.twitter.com/WGQs6Rkpg8
— ASH (@AshOrgUK) October 4, 2023
Prohibition makes use far more dangerous, always. People need education about and incentive towards safer nicotine products. Criminalizing people who smoke won’t help them quit. It just tells them that you don’t care about who they are and what they like. pic.twitter.com/aHXnSE5luS
— Michael Redfearn (@RedfearnMike) October 4, 2023
expert reaction to PM proposing incremental raising of smoking age in Englandhttps://t.co/V9T0crQtpL
— Science Media Centre UK (@SMC_London) October 4, 2023
Scientists around the world are warning UK of negative effects of clamping down on #vaping (1 is pushing ppl back to smoking). The warnings are as relevant for NZ re banning single-use vapes, & severely restricting flavours, nicotine levels, access. https://t.co/iojF1yz5GZ
— Prof Marewa Glover (@MarewaGlover) October 4, 2023
As chairman for the APPG for Smoking and Health, I have long called for the UK to become #SmokeFree to protect young people. I strongly support this action taken by @RishiSunak.
Here I am calling for this change during the recent adjournment debate.👇 https://t.co/AyXLobmXuM pic.twitter.com/SdtLAcqNy9
— Bob Blackman (@BobBlackman) October 5, 2023
— UKVIA (@Vaping_Industry) October 5, 2023
