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Tag: UK

  • UK to Raise Cigarette Consumption Age

    UK to Raise Cigarette Consumption Age

    Image: premiumdesign

    The U.K. prime minister, Rishi Sunak, wants to raise the legal age for consuming cigarettes, gradually increasing it one year at a time until the next generation is no longer legally allowed to purchase the products, reports Bloomberg.

    According to Sunak, the move would make it so that “a 14-year-old today would never legally be sold a cigarette.” Sunak spoke on the age increase at a Conservative Party conference in Manchester Wednesday, where plans to restrict availability of vapes and look at packaging and flavors of vapor products were also discussed.

    Simon Clark, director of smokers’ rights group Forest, responded to the move, saying, “These are desperate measures by a desperate prime minister.

    “Raising the age of sale of tobacco is creeping prohibition, but it won’t stop young people smoking because prohibition doesn’t work. Anyone who wants to smoke will buy tobacco abroad or from illicit sources.

    “This is the opposite of leveling up; it’s dumbing down. Future generations of adults who are considered old enough to vote, pay taxes, drive a car and drink alcohol are going to be treated like children and denied the right to buy a product that can be purchased legally by people a year older than them.

    “This is now a conservative government in name only because the prime minister has just taken a wrecking ball to the principles of choice and personal responsibility,” Clark said.

  • UK Prime Minister Considering Cig Ban

    UK Prime Minister Considering Cig Ban

    Image: Pcess609

    U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is considering a ban on cigarettes that would effectively ban the next generation from purchasing cigarettes, according to the Guardian.

    Sunak has reportedly been looking into measures similar to those put in place in New Zealand, involving steadily increasing the legal smoking age, resulting in those born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, never being able to buy tobacco products.

    “At a time when people and businesses are crying out for stability, Rishi Sunak has poured fuel on the Tories’ economic bin fire in a desperate bid to keep Liz Truss and her fellow arsonists happy,” said Keir Starmer, Labour leader, referring to Sunak’s recent backtracking on his net-zero policy and confusion over his education policies.

    “Britain has a once-in-a-generation chance to reverse 13 years of decline and get ahead—to bring down people’s bills, create quality jobs and free us from the grip of Putin and over-reliance on China. Rishi Sunak’s weakness now stands between the country and proper national renewal,” Starmer said.

    “Smoking is a deadly habit—it kills tens of thousands of people each year and places a huge burden on the NHS and the economy,” said a government spokesperson about the New Zealand-style smoking ban policy. “We want to encourage more people to quit and meet our ambition to be smoke-free by 2030, which is why we have already taken steps to reduce smoking rates. This includes providing 1 million smokers in England with free vape kits via our world-first ‘swap to stop’ scheme, launching a voucher scheme to incentivize pregnant women to quit and consulting on mandatory cigarette pack inserts.”

    “Prohibiting the sale of cigarettes to future generations of adults won’t stop people smoking,” said Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ group Forest. “It will simply drive the sale of cigarettes underground and into the hands of criminal gangs.

    “Treating adults like children by denying them the right to buy cigarettes legally would take the nanny state to another level.

    “Smoking rates have been falling for decades,” Clark said. “The idea that any government would prioritize tackling smoking at a time when the country faces far more important challenges at home and abroad is frankly obscene.

    “If it’s true that the prime minister wants to introduce some of the world’s toughest anti-smoking measures, denying millions of adults the freedom to choose, it will be a Conservative government in name only.”

  • Superdrug to Stop Selling Disposables in UK and Ireland

    Superdrug to Stop Selling Disposables in UK and Ireland

    Image: Nick

    Superdrug will stop selling disposable vape products in its U.K. and Ireland stores following environmental concern over the products, reports the Guardian.

    The retailer noted that it would have its stock completely cleared out by the end of the year.

    “The rate that consumers are using single-use vapes and discarding them is worrying and alarming for the environment,” said Lucy Morton-Channon, Superdrug’s head of environment, social and governance. “The lasting effects that single-use vapes are having on the environment needs to be addressed, and I am pleased that we’ve decided to remove them from all stores.”

    Superdrug also cited risk of fire from improper vape disposal as a reason for discontinuing sales.

  • UK Councils Want to Ban Disposables

    UK Councils Want to Ban Disposables

    Image: Tobacco Reporter archive

    Councils in England and Wales are urging the U.K. government to ban sales of single-use vapor devices by 2024, citing environmental and health concerns, reports Reuters.

    The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils in England and Wales, argued that a ban needs to be implemented quickly to prevent disposables from flooding the U.K. market as other markets close. The European Union has proposed a ban in 2026, and France is implementing a ban in December 2023.

    “Disposable vapes are fundamentally flawed in their design and inherently unsustainable products, meaning an outright ban will prove more effective than attempts to recycle more vapes,” said David Fothergill, chairman of the LGA’s community well-being board, referring to disposable vapes’ inability to be easily recycled due to the batteries not being a separate unit.

    “Disposables have been around for well over a decade and provide a low-priced accessible product that helps smokers to quit smoking tobacco,” said John Dunne, director-general of the U.K. Vaping Industry Association, defending disposable vapes. He said the industry is working to limit environmental impact, and he warned that a ban would lead to a larger black market.