Rishi Sunak has announced an effective smoking ban for future generations, saying there was “no safe level” of the habit.
Speaking at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester on Wednesday, the Prime Minister said MPs would be given a free vote on legislation that would raise the age at which people can buy cigarettes and tobacco by one year every year – meaning a child currently aged 14 would never be able to do so.
Just 12.9 percent of UK adults are smokers today, some seven million people, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Nationally, this share has been declining for years – down from 18.8 percent a decade ago – but in some areas the healthy trend is being bucked.
Express.co.uk has mapped the UK’s tobacco capitals.
Around 76,000 people a year in the UK die from smoking, with many more forced to live with debilitating illnesses, according to the NHS. The habit is notably responsible for 70 percent of all lung cancer cases.
Every year throughout October, Public Health England promotes “Stoptober” in its bid to eradicate what is one of the country’s leading causes of preventable death. While it has proven greatly effective in many places, this is not the case in Mid Devon.
The predominately rural local authority was found to be the only place in Great Britain where over a quarter of the adult population (25.1 percent) are still smokers.
Behind this figure lies a stark divide between the sexes, with 17.7 percent of women being smokers, rising to a staggering 31.3 percent for men – equivalent to the national rate in the late Eighties. Across the UK, the split is a more even 11.2 and 14.6 percent respectively.
Mid Devon was followed by Hastings in east Sussex (23.7 percent), Lincoln (23.5 percent) and Boston (22.9 percent) in Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire (21.8 percent).
Stopping teenagers pick up cigarettes in the first place was highlighted as a priority by Mr Sunak during his speech. He said: “Four in five smokers have started by the time they’re 20. Later, the vast majority try to quit, but many fail because they’re addicted.”
According to the Stoptober campaign, those who have quit for 28 days are five times more likely to give up for good.
Responding to the Prime Minister’s announcement, Councillor David Fothergill, Chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board said: “Smoking is the single largest cause of preventable death worldwide and councils stand ready to help the Government achieve its ambition of eliminating smoking in England by 2030.
“It is important that clarity is provided on how restrictions on the age of sale can be enforced and councils get the funding they need to successfully implement this policy.
“There should also be sufficient lead-in time, and guidance provided ahead of the legislation coming into force so that councils, retailers and others understand their new obligations and can prepare accordingly.”
