HEADLINES

• Plans to target sale of tobacco products to be unveiled
• Most smokers 'want to quit but struggle to go without'
• Rango slammed by anti-smoking campaigners
• Toenails can reveal lung cancer risk
• Wales: Expectant mums could be paid to quit smoking habit

• Plans to target sale of tobacco products to be unveiled

  The following news reports came out before the Tobacco Plan was launched at 9.30am this morning. Further news coverage will be included in tomorrow's ASH Daily News.

  The Department of Health in England is expected to say that it will push ahead with a ban on the display of tobacco products in shops in the coming years.

  A consultation will also be launched on forcing tobacco companies to put cigarettes into plain packets.

  The measures are part of a plan to drive down smoking rates, particularly among young people.

  Just over a fifth of adults smoke - a figure which has remained pretty steady in recent years after decades of more rapid falls.

  Both steps have been under discussion for a number of years with legislation to ban the display of tobacco products put in place by the Labour government before it lost power last year.

  A number of countries, including Canada, Ireland, Iceland and Finland, have already introduced similar bans, while Scotland and Northern Ireland are moving in that direction. In England, it will be phased in over the next couple of years, the government is expected to say, after putting off the move when it came to power.

  But England will be the first country in Europe to force tobacco companies to put cigarettes in plain, unbranded packets, if it goes ahead. Australia is due to introduce the measure in 2012.

  The plain packaging measure is only a proposal at this stage and will be put forward for consultation. Campaigners believe it will make purchasing cigarettes less appealing and enhance the effectiveness of health warnings.
  
  Both measures will be set out as part of the government's tobacco control strategy, which marks the start of the publication of a series of public health plans. Separate strategies on alcohol and drugs are expected in the coming months.

  Martin Dockrell, of the campaign group Ash, said there was "strong evidence" that the measures would stop people taking up smoking.

  On banning shop displays, he added: "Regular smokers know what brand they smoke before they go into the shop and don't need a display to remind them. In truth, these displays serve two functions - they promote brands to new young smokers and they trigger sales to people who did not intend to buy. Every morning when the ex-smoker goes into a shop to buy a paper the tobacco companies are waiting for them, putting their brand in front of them."

  Shadow public health minister Diane Abbott said she welcomed the moves, but said they were "building on" what Labour had done through its anti-smoking legislation, including the ban on smoking in public places and on the advertising of tobacco products.

  But ahead of publication of the strategy, the government was criticised by a Tory backbencher.

  Philip Davies, the MP for Shipley, said the plain packaging plan was "gesture politics of the worst kind" and would represent a "triumph for the nanny state".

  Defending himself in the House of Commons, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said the purpose of his plans was to reduce the "number of people smoking and as a consequence avoidable deaths and disease".

  But Debbie Corris, of the Tobacco Retailers Alliance, said: "There is no evidence this will reduce smoking. If anything, plain packaging will cause a problem with more counterfeiting - plain packets are not that difficult to copy - while banning displays will hit smaller retailers hard. We are disappointed about this."
  
  Further coverage:

  The Guardian: Cigarettes may be sold in plain packets: Link - http://bit.ly/i2HTbX

  The Telegraph: Cigarettes to come in plain packets Link - http://bit.ly/fH27ka

  Daily Mail: Cigarette displays to be banned in shops from next April Link - http://bit.ly/gmOQD4

  The Sun: Sell cigarettes in plain packets Link - http://bit.ly/f7JCqy

  The Independent: Government unveils cigarette branding curbs Link - http://ind.pn/gt2Waa

  Source: BBC News, 9 March 2011
  Link: http://bbc.in/e3nHQo

• Most smokers 'want to quit but struggle to go without'

  Research shows that most smokers want to give up but find it difficult to even go a day without lighting up.

  A survey of 13,000 people by the Office of National Statistics found that 63% of smokers in Britain wanted to quit.

  Martin Dockrell, of the campaign group Action on Smoking and Health, said: "We need to think of smokers as people wanting to leave a room. We have to give them as many ways out as we can. That means making sure there are smoking cessation services available, tackling marketing and making it less affordable."

  Source: BBC News, 07 March 2011
  Link: http://bbc.in/g90hXH

• Rango slammed by anti-smoking campaigners

  A coalition of groups in the United States have branded Rango, the animated film, a public health hazard for encouraging children to take up the habit.
  
  Campaigners say that research shows that children in elementary school who are exposed to on-screen smoking are more likely to take up the habit as teens.
  
  Cheryl Healton, president of anti-smoking campaigners Legacy, said: 'While some in the film industry have taken preliminary steps to protect young audiences by making more movies smoke free, Paramount's decision to include smoking in a movie designed for kids is really troubling."
  
  "It is a mystery why Hollywood's masters of storytelling and visual effects have not found a better way to depict their characters without the danger of influencing young people to light up."

  Source: Daily Mail, 09 March 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/fUTZnt

• Toenails can reveal lung cancer risk

  Researchers from the University of San Diego in California found that measuring nicotine levels in toe nail clippings can give an accurate idea of the future risk of lung cancer.

  The findings which were published in the American Journal of Epidemiology says that men with the highest readings were over three times as likely to get lung cancer as those with the lowest.

  Toenails not only spot which smokers are most at risk but also which non-smokers are as well. Some of the men with the highest levels of nicotine were non-smoking, presumably, had been exposed via secondhand smoke.

  Source: BBC News, 08 March 2011
  Link: http://bbc.in/fe2qux

• Wales: Expectant mums could be paid to quit smoking habit

  In a bid to protect unborn babies, pregnant women in Wales could be paid to stop smoking.

  An influential conference has heard how financial incentives are the best way of reducing smoking during pregnancy which include offering women vouchers for groceries.

  Dr Tony Jewell, Wales’ chief medical officer, said the Assembly Government would consider any proven innovative ideas.

  Wales has the highest rates of smoking while pregnant in the UK, as 37% fail to give up the habit.

  Tanya Buchanan, chief executive of Ash Wales, said: “Smoking rates in pregnancy remain particularly high in Wales with 37% of mothers smoking at some stage during pregnancy or the year before it. Mothers in Wales are more likely to smoke and less likely to give up than in other UK countries. The use of financial incentives with pregnant smokers, especially those from lower income groups, has been demonstrated to be effective in supporting quit attempts during pregnancy."

  Source: Walesonline, 07 March 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/fFdcXd