Smoking in United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, smoking is allowed but tobacco products are subject to certain regulations. Under these regulations, there is a complete ban on all forms of tobacco advertising. Cigarettes can be purchased online, but not through vending machines. The importation of cigarettes for trade is allowed with an import license. Additionally, health warnings on cigarette packaging are required, and the minimum legal age for purchase is 18 years. Legal restrictions on smoking in public places are also enforced. Cigarettes in the UK are subject to an excise tax of 50.56% and a total taxation rate of 83.72%. Statistics show a gradual decline in the current smoking prevalence in the UK since 2000. There were approximately 6.7 million current adult smokers in the country in 2024, representing an adult current smoking prevalence of 11.8%. This was 13.1% in 2022, and 27.1% in 2000. Smoking prevalence was higher among males with 13.6% than among females with 10.1% in 2024. Daily smoking prevalence among adults was 9.1% overall, 8.1% among females, and 10.2% among males in 2024. In 2021, smoking led to 75,848 deaths in the UK, of which 44,400 deaths were among males and 31,448 deaths were among females. This shows that smoking consisted 11.05% of all deaths in the country, including 12.6% of all male deaths and 9.42% of all female deaths.
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March 25, 2020 by vapingpost.com
Scottish Study: E-Cigs May Be Helping Disadvantaged Smokers Quit
Led by the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit at the University of Glasgow, this study highlighted once again that e-cigarettes are effective smoking cessation tools and that they have the potential to either widen or narrow socioeconomic health inequalities. Lead study author Dr. Michael Green, said that it is important to differentiate between vapers who used to smoke and those who did not. “Whether someone smokes is important because, while vaping among those who have never smoked might be a concern, vaping among smokers and ex-smokers is more desirable because it can involve people switching away from smoking.”
March 20, 2020 by talkingretail.com
Vaping industry urges government to keep vape shops open during coronavirus crisis
The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) is [...] calling on the government to keep vape stores open across the country, rather than forcing them to close as part of any intensification of its coronavirus containment strategy. Closing vapes stores, the industry argues, would be a potentially counterproductive move that could place a further strain on the already overstretched National Health Service.
March 17, 2020 by theguardian.com
British American Tobacco circumventing ad ban, experts say
British American Tobacco (BAT) is marketing e-cigarettes and heated cigarettes with pictures of attractive models and using hashtags such as “I dare you to try it”, despite a crackdown last year after it paid social media influencers to promote its products. In the UK the Advertising Standards Authority banned e-cigarette-makers from paying influencers to promote their products on Instagram. After the ban, Facebook and Instagram both announced in December that they would no longer allow influencers to promote tobacco or e-cigarettes.
March 13, 2020 by glasgowtimes.co.uk
Dr Punam Krishan: More now than ever it’s vital for smokers to quit
Smoking is one our greatest societal challenges as it remains the biggest single preventable cause of ill-health, disability and early death in Scotland.
Smoking is a significant public health problem causing an annual estimated rate of one in four deaths in Scotland. More than 33,000 hospital admissions are secondary to complications of smoking every year. This not only places a lot of challenges on patients themselves but such peaks, especially in winter time, puts the NHS under immense pressure, costing the health service around £400million every year. Just imagine what we could do for the country’s health with this money!
March 13, 2020 by medicalxpress.com
Researchers evaluate free vape kit program for smoking cessation
Researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) are evaluating a new free vape kit scheme in Great Yarmouth, to help find out whether the initiative helps people to quit smoking tobacco for good. The innovative scheme which is provided by Smokefree Norfolk, offers a vape voucher to people in the Great Yarmouth area who are struggling to quit smoking. Around 21% of people who live in Great Yarmouth smoke tobacco, compared to 14% of people in the rest of Norfolk, and 15% as a national average.
March 11, 2020 by eurekalert.org
Are non-smoking young adults who use e-cigarettes more likely to smoke in the future?
In this study, the researchers combined evidence from 17 studies that had investigated e-cigarette use and subsequent smoking, where an odds ratio could be calculated, to explore whether e-cigarette use, compared to non-use, in young non-smokers is associated with subsequent cigarette use.
Jasmine Khouja [...] said: "Policymakers have used the findings of studies, including the studies we reviewed in this research, to support the heavy regulation of e-cigarettes, including restrictions on flavours and even total bans, but the evidence that e-cigarette use might cause young people to take up smoking is not as strong as it might appear."
March 04, 2020 by dailyrecord.co.uk
A smoke free future is possible with the help of Voke
Stopping smoking can be a tough challenge, people have tried many techniques from nicotine patches to e-cigarettes in a bid to to quit. Now, a new device has launched in the UK that delivers nicotine in a similar way to an asthma inhaler, and it's even been passed as safe for pregnant women.
The device, called Voke has been licensed as a medicine by the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), and delivers rapid craving relief without heat, burn or vapour.
February 25, 2020 by bbc.com
Scotland 'could miss tobacco-free target by up to 16 years'
More than one in 10 people will still be smoking in 2034 despite a Scottish government commitment to stub out the habit by then, health campaigners say.
Ministers have set a goal of creating a "tobacco-free generation", with 5% or less of the population smoking in 14 years' time.
However, Cancer Research UK has warned that deadline could be missed by up to 16 years in the poorest communities.
The Scottish government said smoking in Scotland "continues to fall".
Cancer Research UK analysis suggested 12% of adults could still be smokers by 2034 if smoking rates decline as expected.
February 24, 2020 by lfpress.com
London researchers holding first-of-its-kind forum on vaping risks for teens
London researchers are sounding the alarm about teen vaping, launching a first-of-its kind local forum to boost public awareness about the potential lung health threat.
Experts will provide facts about the potential risks of vaping at Generation Vape, a public forum March 10 at the Museum London lecture theatre.
“There’s been a crisis in the high school system and with young adults vaping, both in the local area and in North America,” said Grace Parraga, a panel member and medical biophysics professor at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry.
February 04, 2020 by ft.com
JTI’s menthol cigar an attempt evade UK ban, say campaigners
Japan Tobacco, the maker of Camel cigarettes outside the US, has launched a cigarette-sized menthol cigar in the UK that campaigners say is an attempt to evade an impending ban on flavoured cigarettes.
The Sterling Dual Capsule cigarillo is the same size as a normal cigarette but is classified as a cigar-type product as it is wrapped in tobacco leaf. [...]
“The tobacco manufacturers pay vast sums of money to delay implementation of anti-tobacco laws and, once legislation is in place, to try to find loopholes. This is just the latest example, and the government must act quickly to put a stop to it,” said Deborah Arnott, [...]