Blog
End tobacco smoking by 2025?
9th September 2008
Could we end the smoking of tobacco in the Uk within a generation. On first glance it looks like one of those utterly grandiose targets that New Labour used to launch (and re-launch) such as abolishing Child Poverty by 2020. But this ultra-ambitious target comes from the Royal College of Physicians who argue that radical measures are needed to curb smoking. They argue that “The primary objective of regulation of smoked tobacco should be to make smoking and smoked tobacco products as unappealing, unattractive, unaffordable and unavailable as possible, as quickly as possible.”
The measures include:
Increase the tax on tobacco by 10% every year License tobacco retailers and prohibit the sale of smoked tobacco in premises where children are admitted Crack down on tobacco smuggling, and apply Class A drug penalties for tobacco smuggling and under-age sale Encourage sale of low cost single day nicotine packs, available from any retail outlet Permanently exempt medicinal nicotine from VAT Provide free medicinal nicotine for all smokers on the NHS, not just those on a smoking cessation programme
What do you think?
Ending Tobacco Smoking in Britain is available here
Geoff Riley
Geoff Riley FRSA has been teaching Economics for over thirty years. He has over twenty years experience as Head of Economics at leading schools. He writes extensively and is a contributor and presenter on CPD conferences in the UK and overseas.