Each cigarette will soon have “smoking kills” printed on them under a raft of tough measures proposed by MPs to encourage more people to quit the deadly habit of smoking.
“We know that cigarettes are the cancer stick and kill half the people who use it. So I hope the health warnings on cigarettes will deter people from tempting people to smoke in the first place, especially young people,” said Labor MP Mary Kelly Foy, who led the move.
“I hope this will encourage some smokers to quit because if they are putting it in their mouth and see that message on a cigarette every time they smoke, I expect it to have the desired effect.“
Sir George Young, a former Conservative cabinet minister, first introduced proposed health warnings on cigarettes when he was Minister of Health in Margaret Thatcher’s government, but was unsuccessful. Now a colleague, and deputy chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health, he has introduced a private member’s bill to the House of Lords to make his proposal law.
“As health minister I suggested that health warnings on cigarettes could help more people quit smoking. Tobacco companies told me that this would make cigarettes even more dangerous, because the ink was carcinogenic. Clearly this is nonsense because tobacco already contains 70 cancer-causing chemicals,” Sir George said.
Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said: “Cigarettes do not kill cigarette packs smokers, so obviously the sticks themselves are where health warnings are most needed. As a health minister In 2006, George Young proposed just that, but Big Tobacco thwarted him.
Cancer Research UK and the Royal College of Physicians, which represents hospital doctors, are backing the plan. Foy says only “bold action” will help the government achieve its ambition of England being smoke-free – where only 5% of people light up – by 2030. The Conservative former Cabinet minister, Sir George Young, now a peer, has separately introduced a private member’s bill into the House of Lords seeking to ensure cigarettes have to carry such warnings, which could also say “smoking causes cancer”.
The amended bill also targets e-cigarette makers, proposing a ban on marketing tactics that may tempt children with sweet tastes and like cartoon characters. In addition, it made it illegal for e-cigarette manufacturers to give away free samples.
Foy’s amendments would also empower the government to impose a new levy on tobacco company profits, with the proceeds being used to fund stop smoking activities.
