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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October 17, 2019 by eurekalert.org
E-cigarettes may help more than 50,000 smokers to stop smoking in England each year
The study, led by UCL researchers and funded by Cancer Research UK, found that as use of e-cigarettes in quit attempts went up from 2011 onwards, so did the success rate of quitting. And, when the increase in use of e-cigarettes flattened off somewhat around 2015, so did the increase in quit success. This led the team to estimate that in 2017 around 50,700 to 69,930 smokers had stopped who would otherwise have carried on smoking. Lead author Dr Emma Beard [...] commented: "This study builds on population surveys and clinical trials that find e-cigarettes can help smokers to stop. [...]
October 15, 2019 by reuters.com
Vaping illness, deaths likely very rare beyond U.S., experts say
E-cigarette or vaping-linked lung injuries that have killed 29 and sickened more than 1,000 people in the United States are likely to be rare in Britain and other countries where the suspect products are not widely used, specialists said on Monday. Experts in toxicology and addiction said they are sure that the 1,299 confirmed and probable American cases of serious lung injuries linked to vaping are “a U.S.-specific phenomenon,” and there is no evidence of a similar pattern of illness in Britain or elsewhere.
October 15, 2019 by bbc.com
Vaping: 'I'm 17, and rarely ID'd for e-cigs'
Almost 40% of sellers targeted by councils in England have been caught illegally allowing children to buy e-cigarette products, a report has found.
Ninety of the 227 premises tested sold vaping goods to under-age teenagers in 2018-19, data from 34 councils showed.
Trading Standards - which compiled the research - has called for greater resources to enforce the law.
Public Health England said vaping was 95% healthier than smoking.
It is estimated 3.6 million people in the UK now use e-cigarettes.
October 15, 2019 by thesun.co.uk
Flavoured e-cigarettes should be BANNED after US vaping deaths, chief medical officer says
Prof Dame Sally Davies, the country's most senior doctor for almost a decade, said sweet-like flavours could make vaping attractive to children. She also said she is concerned that the long-term health consequences of the devices remains unknown.
That's despite advice from Public Health England, which claims e-cigarettes are 95 per cent safer than smoking.
[...] “Vaping is a lot safer than smoking tobacco and probably a good way to help people quit.
"But I would prefer if if we did not have flavoured e-cigarettes because I think that is the kind of marketing that can appeal to children.
October 14, 2019 by theguardian.com
What is the truth about vaping?
The rapid rise of e-cigarettes has spawned a social media subculture, but in recent months fear has spread about the safety of vaping. A number of deaths in the United States have been linked to vaping with hundreds of apparently healthy young people contracting serious lung disease. Meanwhile in the UK, where regulations are far stricter, e-cigarettes are promoted as an effective way for smokers to quit tobacco. So what is the truth about vaping?
The Observer’s Jamie Doward and the Guardian’s Max Sanderson join Anushka Asthana to discuss the rise of e-cigarettes.
October 11, 2019 by vice.com
Why People Are Dying from Vaping in the U.S. and Not the U.K.
"I think the difference between the U.K. and the U.S. are due to the American propensity to turn health issues into moral crusades," said Brad Rodu, a professor of medicine at the University of Louisville and an expert in tobacco-addiction harm-reduction, who also noted that another big issue is the bureaucratic mess in obtaining funding for research in the States. "It appears that policymakers in the U.S. are either completely ignorant of the history of tobacco, or completely ignore it."
October 02, 2019 by liverpoolecho.co.uk
Up to date NHS guidance after e-cigs feared linked to deaths and illnesses
Current advice from the National Health Service states that vaping is a useful tool to help people quit smoking.
They even recommend that pregnant women struggling to quit tobacco continue to vape if it helps them, saying: "It's much safer for you and your baby than continuing to smoke." Experts claim vaping has helped thousands of smoker to quit tobacco.
NHS Professor John Newton said: "It isn't risk-free but it is far less harmful than smoking. It would be tragic if smokers who could quit with the help of an e-cigarette did not do so because of false fears about their safety."
October 01, 2019 by independent.co.uk
VAPE ADVERTS ARE MAKING E-CIGARETTES 'MORE APPEALING' TO TEENAGERS, STUDY FINDS
Vaping adverts are making electronic cigarettes “more appealing” to teenagers, new research has found.
The study, which used data from a 2017 international online survey of 12,064 16 to 19-year-olds, suggests that changes need to be made in terms of how businesses are allowed to promote vaping products, especially online.
Currently, adverts for vaping are banned in the UK's mass media. However, e-cigarettes can still be promoted via billboards, flyers and in shops that sell tobacco, vaping paraphernalia and liquids.
September 27, 2019 by european-views.com
Why Britain’s apology for e-cigarettes misses the point
Britain and America have been largely in step on regulating tobacco products since the mid-1960s, when they published their first tobacco control laws just months apart from one another. Now, however, a trans-Atlantic split has emerged. After six people died from vaping-related lung diseases in the US, Donald Trump has promised a ban on flavoured e-cigarettes. The UK’s public health chiefs, however, continue to downplay the risks. [...] Martin Dockrell, has said such a ban would be counter-productive since European vaping products are far safer than their US counterparts; [...]
September 20, 2019 by cbsnews.com
Public health expert on e-cigarette panic
Researchers are working hard to determine the cause of more than 500 reported cases of lung illness affecting e-cigarette users. But even before this outbreak, e-cigarettes divided the medical community. Public Health England describes e-cigarettes as "at least 95% less harmful than tobacco cigarettes" – a claim New York University professor David Abrams agrees with. Abrams tells "CBS This Morning" Tony Dokoupil why he's concerned about what the current panic about e-cigarette safety could mean for public health.