Scotland: Last-ditch protest against tobacco display ban

The Scottish Parliament is expected to overwhelmingly pass legislation prohibiting both tobacco displays and vending machines in the hope of deterring children from starting smoking. 

But the tobacco industry and shop owners argued there was no evidence the measures will work, and claimed they will merely hurt small businesses.

Scottish ministers claimed it will cost corner shops as little as £210 to adhere to the new regulations, which will see cigarettes stored under the counter.

However, the Scottish Grocers’ Federation, which represents convenience stores, has claimed the real cost, including joinery work, would be more than £10,000 per shop.

John Drummond, the organisation’s chief executive, said: “The tobacco display ban is a policy gimmick that will impose costs and disruption on retailers at the worst possible time.

“The evidence that this will actually stop young people smoking just isn’t there.”

Christopher Ogden, Chief Executive of the Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association, added: “The proposed ban is unnecessary, unjustified and unwanted by many stakeholders, especially the retailers whose businesses will be adversely affected to no purpose.”

The Bill will also raise the legal age for buying tobacco products to 18, and make it illegal for adults to buy cigarettes for anyone under that age.

Official figures show about a third of young Scots aged 16 to 24 smoke, a level not seen for a decade despite the introduction of the smoking ban.

There are about 13,500 deaths from smoking in Scotland annually, while about 15,000 children take up the habit each year.

Source: The Telegraph, 26 January 2010
Link: http://bit.ly/crcG65

Cigarettes are found in furniture at Tilbury Docks

A hoard of 40,000 illegal cigarettes has been found in a cargo of furniture being imported through a port in Essex.

UK Border Agency officers at Tilbury found the cigarettes inside a settee and two armchairs brought by container from the United Arab Emirates.

The smugglers had crammed the packages into the bases of the pieces of furniture.

The hoard would have attracted £9,000 duty if imported legally, a UK Border Agency spokesman said.

Marc Owen, director of Border Force, said: "The smugglers had made quite an elaborate attempt to evade detection.

"The black market, which the cigarettes were undoubtedly headed for, cheats the British taxpayer, undermines honest traders and has no regard for who is buying the products, including children."

The cigarettes will be taken to an incinerator plant where they will be burned.

Source: BBC News, 26 January 2010
Link: http://bit.ly/bTvXYo

Bid to tax tobacco giants over cigarette butts

Council chiefs are backing calls to impose a clean-up levy on tobacco companies to help them foot the bill for clearing cigarette butts.

Manchester council has come out in support of a report to the government which recommends that tobacco giants could be taxed and revenues given to local authorities to help them keep their streets clean.

An estimated £1.5m is spent ridding Manchester's streets of cigarette litter each year. Smokers are responsible for 94 per cent of all litter, according to clean-up teams.

Manchester city centre chief, Coun Pat Karney, is calling on the government to take on the recommendations and go further still by imposing a tax on chewing gum companies as well.

He said: “I'm really keen on this. Cigarette and chewing gum litter are the bane of our lives.

“We spend a small fortune ridding Manchester city centre's streets of cigarette litter and I don't see why councils should have to spend these great amounts when the source is a multi-million pound industry. A levy is long overdue.”

The report calls on the government to assess the practicalities of applying a small levy to products such as cigarettes, drink and confectionery, whose packaging contributes the largest volumes of litter.

Around 200 million cigarette butts are dropped on Britain's streets each day, according to anti-smoking charity Ash.

Street cleaners in Greater Manchester have previously said they sweep up up to 1,000 cigarette ends an hour. Campaigners say a levy may make smokers think twice about dropping cigarette litter as well as going some way to meeting the huge clean-up cost.

In 2005, Manchester introduced £50 on the spot fines for people caught dropping cigarette butts and chewing gum on the city's streets.

Source: Manchester Evening News, 26 January 2010
Link: http://bit.ly/bIeu2T

"Never too late" to quit smoking

Cancer patients are being encouraged to give up smoking as a report suggests it is never too late to kick the habit.

Researchers at the University of Birmingham found that smokers with early lung cancer who give up tobacco have a greater chance of survival - at least five years - than those who continue to light up.

The team looked at data from 10 studies on the impact of stopping smoking after early diagnosis of the disease.

It discovered that only 29% to 33% of patients who continued to smoke lived for five years, while more than double (63% to 70%) who stopped smoking survived for that number of years.

The researchers said that people who gave up the smoking had a lower risk of tumours reoccurring and a lesser risk of death.

Across the world, lung cancer is the most common type of the disease. In the UK it is only beaten by breast cancer as the most common.

The scientists concluded that it is never too late for people to quit smoking, even if they have already been diagnosed with lung cancer.

Source: Nursing in Practice, 26 January 2010
Link: http://bit.ly/b7LiHg