A report published yesterday by Healthcare Improvement Scotland finds that people want more to be done to limit the sales of tobacco products.
The survey, commissioned by the Scottish Government, asked questions which will form part of a refreshed plan to be published this autumn, to support a tobacco-free Scotland.
The Citizens’ Panel survey, which ran between November 2022 and February 2023, found that of the 667 people who responded to the survey, 75% want more action to be taken to further limit who can sell tobacco products, and while 63% agreed the legal age to buy them should be raised from 18 to 21, 25% were opposed.
Some 65% agreed that Scotland should increase the legal age of the sale of nicotine vaping products from 18 to 21 years.
In addition, the survey found that 80% of respondents said that they either strongly agreed or agreed that action should be taken to further limit who can sell nicotine vaping products. Just 9% either disagreed or strongly disagreed.
In addition, 67% felt packaging, in pack information and the appearance of cigarettes should be made more unappealing. Some 64% agreed that taxes on tobacco and vaping products should be raised, but nearly a quarter of respondents (23%) disagreed with this.
There was also wide agreement that the smoking ban should be widened to create more smoke-free areas where children congregate, such as outside schools and play parks, with almost nine in ten respondents (86%) in agreement. Just 8% disagreed.
The report recommends that the Scottish Government considers including all the measures that have the strongest public support in its Tobacco Action Plan 2023.
It adds that the Scottish Government should then consider further around more punitive measures, such as raising the age of purchase and raising taxation on tobacco and vaping products. After assessing the impact of these measures, these could also be implemented following a staged approach.
Clare Morrison, Director of Community Engagement at Healthcare Improvement Scotland said: “As Scotland looks to become tobacco-free in the near future, this shows that the majority of people believe more should be done to limit access for younger people to tobacco and vaping.”
Pregnant women will also be offered financial incentives to help them quit as part of a sweeping package of measures to cut smoking rates in England
One million smokers will be encouraged to swap cigarettes for vapes under a pioneering new “swap to stop” scheme designed to improve the health of the nation and cut smoking rates.
As part of the world-first national scheme, almost one in five of all smokers in England will be provided with a vape starter kit alongside behavioural support to help them quit the habit as part of a series of new measures to help the government meet its ambition of being smokefree by 2030 – reducing smoking rates to 5% or less. Local authorities will be invited to take part in the scheme later this year and will design a scheme which suits its needs, including deciding which populations to prioritise.
In a speech today, Health Minister Neil O’Brien will also announce that following the success of local schemes, pregnant women will be offered financial incentives to help them stop smoking. This will involve offering vouchers, alongside behavioural support, to all pregnant women who smoke by the end of next year.
The government will also consult on introducing mandatory cigarette pack inserts with positive messages and information to help people to quit smoking.
Additionally, there will be a crackdown on illicit vape sales as part of measures to stop children and non-smokers take up the habit – which is growing in popularity among young people.
Health Minister Neil O’Brien will say: “Up to two out of three lifelong smokers will die from smoking. Cigarettes are the only product on sale which will kill you if used correctly.
“We will offer a million smokers new help to quit. We will be funding a new national ‘swap to stop’ scheme – the first of its kind in the world. We will work with councils and others to offer a million smokers across England a free vaping starter kit.”
The new policies will deliver the UK Government’s three aims to help more adults quit smoking, stop children and non-smokers from taking up vaping, and using vaping as a tool for established adult smokers to quit.
For those who quit, the risk of heart attack is halved after one year of quitting, ultimately halving the likelihood of ending up in a hospital bed or worse.
Supporting more women to have a smokefree pregnancy will reduce the number of babies born underweight or underdeveloped with health problems requiring neonatal and ongoing care. It will also reduce the risk of miscarriage and stillbirth.
Cutting smoking rates reduces the number of smoking-related illnesses needing to be treated, in turn reducing the pressure on the NHS, helping to deliver on our priority to cut NHS waiting lists.
NHS figures for 2021 showed that 9% of 11- to 15-year-old children used e-cigarettes, up from 6% in 2018.
In recognition of the sharp increase, Minister O’Brien will launch a Call for Evidence on youth vaping to identify opportunities to reduce the number of children accessing and using vape products – and explore where government can go further.
Working with enforcement agencies and learning from the government’s work with Trading Standards on illicit tobacco, £3 million of new funding will also be provided to create a specialised ‘illicit vapes enforcement squad’ to enforce the rules on vaping and tackle illicit vapes and underage sales.
As part of the measures, HMRC and Border Force will also be publishing an updated strategy this year to tackle illicit tobacco. It will lay out strategically how we continue to target, catch and punish those involved in the illicit tobacco market.
Smoking prevalence in England in 2021 was 13% – the lowest on record thanks to measures such as doubling duty on cigarettes since 2010 and continued funding to local stop smoking services
In 2021-22, £68 million of public health grant funded was spent on stop smoking services by local authorities and nearly 100,000 people quit with the support of a stop smoking service.
In addition, £35 million has been committed to the NHS this year so that all smokers admitted to hospital will be offered NHS-funded tobacco treatment services.
However, 5.4 million people in England smoke tobacco which remains the single biggest cause of preventable illness and death. Up to two out of three lifelong smokers will die from smoking and recent data shows one in four deaths from all cancers were estimated to be from smoking.
Last year an independent smoking review led by Javed Khan proposed a range of measures to help people stub out the addiction, which has informed the measures set out today.
Health charity urges Scottish Government to increase cessation support for Scotland’s 730,000 smokers
ASH Scotland is urging the Scottish Government to boost specialist cessation services for the estimated 730,000 Scots who smoke, after it emerged that quit smoking attempts have dropped by more than a third compared to the year before the COVID-19 pandemic started.
The latest annual NHS Stop Smoking Services Scotland report (April 2021 to March 2022) published by Public Health Scotland today (Tuesday 21 February 2023) reveals there were 31,359 quit smoking attempts, around 17,000 fewer than the 48,749 in 2019/20.
With smoking continuing to cause 100,000 hospitalisations and 9,000 deaths in Scotland each year, and the 2034 target for the country to be tobacco-free on track to be missed by an estimated 16 years, ASH Scotland says it is vitally important that the Scottish Government and health boards consider the promotion and expansion of the country’s smoking cessation services as top priorities.
Sheila Duffy, Chief Executive of the health charity ASH Scotland, said: “It is alarming that these latest figures show stop smoking attempts with NHS support have fallen for the 10th consecutive year and by almost 75% since the peak of 121,385 attempts in 2011/12.
“At a time when the health service is under considerable pressure and smoking continues to be the biggest preventable cause of illness and death, swift action is required by the Scottish Government and health boards to ensure NHS Quit Your Way services are promoted and better resourced to reach more of the two-thirds of Scots who smoke and want to quit.
“Quit Your Way services, which provide specialist person-centred smoking cessation support, must be boosted as a matter of urgency to continue their critical role helping people who have the highest smoking rates, such as those living in our most deprived communities, and experiencing mental health problems, to leave tobacco behind.”
ASH Scotland research suggests that smoking prevalence for people experiencing mental health problems in Scotland’s poorest communities is between 40 to 50 per cent, comparable to the country’s general population smoking rates of the mid-1970s.
People aiming to give up smoking can call Quit Your Way’s free helpline on 0800 84 84 84 or create a quit plan at www.QuitYourWay.scot.
ASH Scotland’s Closing the Inequality Gap: Smoking and Mental Health report, published in 2022, can be downloaded at www.ashscotland.org.uk/mentalhealth
Patients and healthcare staff will no longer face second-hand smoke at hospital doors as a nationwide ban comes into effect tomorrow (Monday 5 September).
The new legislation means anyone found lighting up within fifteen metres of a hospital building could face a fixed penalty notice of £50 or a fine of up to £1,000 if the case goes to court.
This is the latest step in the Scottish Government’s plan to create a tobacco free Scotland by 2034 and supports the voluntary smoke-free hospital grounds policy introduced in 2015.
The new law will apply to NHS hospital settings used for the treatment and care of patients and includes a ban on lighting up beneath overhanging structures.
Public Health Minister Maree Todd said: “Everyone knows that smoking is bad for our health and hospital patients in particular should be protected from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke.
“This new law is the latest step in our bold plan to make Scotland tobacco-free by 2034 – building on our dedicated stop-smoking services and early intervention measures to stop youngsters picking up the habit altogether.
“Anyone looking to quit can contact the NHS QuitYourWay Helpline or speak to their local pharmacy to discuss the range of help available.”
ASH Scotland Chief Executive Sheila Duffy said: “Extending current legislation to include outdoor areas will have the positive impact of protecting people from the harmful effects of breathing in toxic tobacco smoke through vents, windows or doorways while they are being treated and recovering in hospital.
“We urge people who smoke to be considerate in remaining outside the 15-metre perimeter, ensuring hospital patients do not face unnecessary additional risks to their health caused by inhaling harmful substances.
“This is particularly important as Scotland challenges the normalisation of smoking on our journey towards becoming tobacco-free.”
Giving up a pack of cigarettes a day could save you up to £4,197 a year – the price of a family holiday abroad.
Cutting out that weekly pack of cigarettes could save you £598 a year, or £2,990 over five years.
Quitting for good could save you up to £41,975 over ten years – equivalent to a 20% deposit on a new home.
You could be saving up to £4,197 a year by giving up a pack of cigarettes a day according to new research, with savings of £598 a year for less frequent smokers.
Vaping experts over at IndeJuice calculated how much money you could be saving based on the average UK cost for a pack of 20 cigarettes over various timespans. They broke down how much you would save throughout your lifetime if you kicked the habit for good, as well as comparing what you could be spending the money on instead.
The research reveals that if you are smoking one pack of cigarettes per day at the average UK cost of £11.50 per pack, you would save £349.79 per month or £4,197 over the course of a year by quitting – the cost of a family holiday abroad for four people, the cost of running your car for ten years or paying for 11 years’ worth of gym memberships.
Someone who regularly smokes a full pack of cigarettes a day can expect to see staggering savings in the long run – banking up to £41,975 over ten years from quitting smoking. This is the equivalent of a 20% deposit on a £200,000 property, the price of a Porsche Cayman or nearly a kilogram of 24 carat gold.
For people who are only smoking a couple of cigarettes a day, the cost can still quickly add up. If you are smoking just one pack of cigarettes a week at the same average cost, you could still make savings of £598 a year, or £2,990 in your pocket over the next five years.
The money saved by quitting for one year, could cover the cost of a three-course meal for you and your significant other 11 times a year, the cost of nine weekly food shops or seven annual Netflix subscriptions.
A spokesperson from IndeJuice added: “Many smokers are already aware of the harm imposed on their body by regularly smoking, but it is easy to overlook the financial savings that could be made by choosing to quit for good.
“When looking at Google Trends data over the past five years, there has been a significant increase in people searching the term ‘quit smoking’ year on year, with the exception of 2021 where there was a 2.3% decrease in searches from the previous year.
“As we emerge out of the pandemic, it is important that we continue to reflect on the health benefits of quitting for good, and the long-term savings offer an additional incentive to do so.”
Gordon MacdonaldMSP has backed national No Smoking Day by urging Edinburgh residents to consider giving up smoking to improve both mental and physical health.
The MSP is supporting a campaign led by health charity, ASH Scotland, which is encouraging people to ‘Quit Your Way’ in ways which work best for individual circumstances by seeking advice and support from stop smoking services, community pharmacies or the national Quit Your Way Scotland service run by NHS 24.
Although smoking rates in NHS Lothian health board area dropped to 18 per cent in 2018, more progress is required if the Scottish Government’s ambitious target of reducing the rate to five per cent or less by 2034 is to be met.
Gordon MacdonaldMSP said: “I am pleased to be supporting ASH Scotland’s No Smoking Day campaign and urge my constituents in Edinburgh Pentlands who smoke to reach out to stop smoking services and community pharmacies who provide free support and can help develop a personalised quit plan.
“I encourage people to try quitting again, if a previous attempt did not work. ASH Scotland advises me that some people find giving up cigarettes or tobacco easier than they had thought but, for others, it can take a number of attempts. It is worth giving quitting smoking another go for the benefits to both mental and physical health.”
Sheila Duffy, Chief Executive of ASH Scotland, said: “We are delighted to have Gordon Macdonald MSP’s support for our No Smoking Day campaign encouraging herconstituents in Edinburgh Pentlands.
“Nicotine is highly addictive but, with the right support to meet individual needs, quitting smoking your way can quickly improve mental health and, within a year of stopping, the risk of coronary heart disease reduces by half compared to someone who smokes.”
Anyone in Lothian who has the goal of giving up smoking can get in touch with Lothian’s Quit Your Way team on Facebook or phone the Quit Your Way Scotland’s national helpline on 0800 848484. More information is also available at www.quityourway.scot.
BURNING MONEY: How much you could be saving per year by giving up smoking
Giving up a pack of cigarettes a day could save you up to £4,197 a year – the price of a family holiday abroad.
Cutting out that weekly pack of cigarettes could save you £598 a year, or £2,991 over five years.
Quitting for good could save you up to £41,975 over ten years – equivalent to a 20% deposit on a new home.
You could be saving up to £4,197 a year by giving up a pack of cigarettes a day according to new research, with savings of £598 a year for less frequent smokers.
Vaping experts over at IndeJuice calculated how much money you could be saving based on the average UK cost for a pack of 20 cigarettes over various timespans. They broke down how much you would save throughout your lifetime if you kicked the habit for good, as well as comparing what you could be spending the money on instead.
The research reveals that if you are smoking one pack of cigarettes per day at the average UK cost of £11.50 per pack, you would save £334.58 per month or £4,197 over the course of a year by quitting – the cost of a family holiday abroad for four people, the cost of running your car for ten years or paying for 11 years’ worth of gym memberships.
Someone who regularly smokes a full pack of cigarettes a day can expect to see staggering savings in the long run – banking up to £41,975 over ten years from quitting smoking. This is the equivalent of a 20% deposit on a £200,000 property, the price of a Porsche Cayman or nearly a kilogram of 24 carat gold.
For people who are only smoking a couple of cigarettes a day, the cost can still quickly add up. If you are smoking just one pack of cigarettes a week at the same average cost, you could still make savings of £598 a year, or £2,991 in your pocket over the next five years.
The money saved by quitting for one year, could cover the cost of a three-course meal for you and your significant other 11 times a year, the cost of nine weekly food shops or seven annual Netflix subscriptions.
A spokesperson from IndeJuice added: “Many smokers are already aware of the harm imposed on their body by regularly smoking, but it is easy to overlook the financial savings that could be made by choosing to quit for good.
“When looking at Google Trends data over the past five years, there has been a significant increase in people searching the term ‘quit smoking’ year on year, with the exception of 2021 where there was a 2.3% decrease in searches from the previous year.
“As we emerge out of the pandemic, it is important that we continue to reflect on the health benefits of quitting for good, and the long-term savings offer an additional incentive to do so.”
A new film from the UK government Better Health Smoke Free campaign has been released to discuss how adult smoker can influence younger people
Experts warn that teenagers whose parents smoke are likely to copy them in adulthood
New film features health experts discussing how adult smokers can act as role models
NHS support offered to smokers – in particular parents, carers and other adults – to encourage them to quit in the new year
Top medical experts have warned that teens whose parents or caregivers smoked are FOUR TIMES as likely to have taken up smoking.
Analysis has also shown that early teens whose main caregiver smoked were more than twice as likely to have tried cigarettes (26% vs 11% ) and four times as likely to be a regular smoker (4.9% vs 1.2%).
A new government Better Health Smoke Free campaign has launched as leading family doctors warn of the issues facing the children of smokers – and calls on people to help prevent this by quitting in January.
In a new film released today, NHS and behavioural health experts discuss the link between adult smoking and the likelihood of children in their household becoming smokers. This includes family GP Dr Nighat Arif, child psychologist Dr Bettina Hohnen, and smoking cessation experts Professor Nick Hopkinson and Dr Anthony Laverty of Imperial College London, who have called on parents in particular to give up smoking in the new year in order to set a good example to their children.
Maggie Throup MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for Vaccines and Public Health, explained why the campaign is launching now: “We know that many people make a quit attempt in January, and while there are so many good reasons to stop smoking for yourself, we hope that this new campaign – by highlighting the inter-generational smoking link with parents influencing their children – will be the added motivation many need to ditch the cigarettes for good this year.
“With so much help and support available for parents, carers and anyone looking to quit – including the NHS Quit Smoking app, support on Facebook, daily emails and texts, and an online Personal Quit Plan – you won’t be alone in your New Year’s resolution.”
Recent research from NatCen Social Research has also shown children aged 10-15 were more likely to smoke if either their mother or father currently smoked. Children were also more likely to smoke if either parent had smoked in the past, even if they were not a current smoker.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer and joint lead for the Office for Health Improvement and Disparity, Dr Jeanelle de Gruchy said: “Smoking is terrible for your health but it also has a negative impact on people around you.
“Most people know the dangers of second smoke but we should not overlook the impact that parents have as role models. Every parent wants what is best for their child and will not want them to become smokers.
“By stopping smoking now, parents can help break the pattern of smoking in their family across the generations, protect their children and improve their own health.”
The film forms part of the Better Health Smoke Free campaign from the new Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) in the Department of Health and Social Care, and aims to give smokers a strong motivation to quit in January, offering free and proven NHS resources and advice.
The campaign comes as the most recent data from the Office for National Statistics shows that one in eight adults in England still smokes. There has been a complex picture of smoking patterns since the pandemic, with high rates of quitting but also high levels of relapse and signs of a rise in smoking rates among younger adults.
Professor Nick Hopkinson of Imperial College London said: “Our research findings are clear – adult smoking has a tangible impact on children. Children whose caregivers smoke are four times as likely to take up smoking themselves.
“The most effective way to help prevent this would be for adults to quit smoking – clearly not only does this have enormous benefits for them but it will also benefit their children both now and in later life.”
Dr Bettina Hohnen explains how parents’ behaviours can have a huge impact on their children’s’: “Even if we don’t directly expose children to second-hand smoke, or believe we are hiding our smoking by not smoking directly in front of them, it can still have a major impact and children can pick up the behaviour without you even being aware you’d had an influence.
“Children copy their parents’ and carers’ behaviours, so it’s important to model the behaviour you want from your child – or we can pass on behaviours without even realising. Actions really do speak louder than words, so if you don’t smoke, you will significantly reduce the chances of them taking up smoking in the future.
Family GP Dr Nighat Arif has first-hand experience of helping smokers in her general practice: “One in eight adults in England still smokes, and it remains the leading preventable cause of premature death.
“Stopping smoking is one of the best things you will ever do for your health, and it’s never too late to quit. If you want to quit smoking for your family or for your own health this January, you’re not alone. The Better Health campaign provides tons of proven support and resources from the NHS which can help you quit for good.”
Georgina from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, is 35 and stopped smoking in January 2021 after being a smoker since she was only 16. Her nephews inspired her to quit: “After 15 years of smoking I took the decision to quit because I really didn’t want to pass the habit on to the children in my life.
“I was totally unaware at first, but over time I noticed that my 7- and 4-year-old nephews were watching me smoke. I am a big influence in their lives so obviously I was worried they’d one day pick up smoking too.
“In the end I quit smoking – both for my own health but for my nephews as well. When I felt ready to start my stop smoking journey, I turned to the Better Health website, and looked at the different resources they had available to help me build confidence and give myself the best possible chance of quitting.”
The Better Health campaign gives access to a range of free quitting support and tools including free expert help from local Stop Smoking Services, the NHS Quit Smoking app, Facebook messenger bot, Stoptober Facebook online communities, daily emails and SMS, and an online Personal Quit Plan.
Search “Smoke Free” for free and proven quit smoking tools and advice on different types of support, nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) and e-cigarettes, to help you quit smoking.
