Press release - 4 August 2008

Your views wanted on tobacco advertising

PEOPLE in East Sussex and Brighton & Hove are being asked for their views on new proposals to restrict tobacco advertising across the country.

The consultation document The Future of Tobacco Control is looking for people’s views now and aims to start a debate on further measures that would stop people smoking and prevent young people starting to smoke.

Some of the main ideas and proposals in the consultation include:

removing branding and logos from all tobacco packaging;
having a minimum pack size of 20 – to stop young people, who can only afford packs of 10, buying cigarettes;
restricting access to cigarette vending machines by young people – whether by banning vending machines altogether or through systems that only allow adult purchase;
restricting the display of tobacco products in shops. which may include putting cigarettes under the counter; and
banning the advertising of smoking paraphernalia, such as cigarette papers.

The take up of smoking in young people is lower than a decade ago, but over 200,000 of all under-16s start smoking each year. As a result they are three times more likely to die of cancer due to smoking than someone who starts in their mid-20s.

Kate Lawson, tobacco control co-ordinator at Brighton and Hove City Teaching Primary Care Trust, says: “What people in East Sussex and Brighton & Hove City think about these new proposals is really important. One year on from the introduction of smokefree legislation in public places, these new proposals aim to take things one step further, particularly to discourage young people from starting to smoke.”

Stuart Ramsbottom, a senior health promotion adviser for the East Sussex primary care trusts, adds: “We want to know if local people agree or disagree. You can make your views known in a number of ways – by post, email or via the internet. Please send your views in.”

The estimated cost to the NHS of treating smoking related illness is between £1.4 and 1.7 billion per year. In the South East, 20 per cent of people are currently smokers, although in some parts of East Sussex and Brighton and Hove this figure is much higher.

To read more about the consultation on the Future of Tobacco Control, please go to: www.dh.gov.uk/en/consultations/liveconsultations. The consultation closes on 8 September 2008.