[ad_1]
BAN COULD CREATE BLACK MARKET: MP
Smoking is estimated to cost the UK more than US$20 billion annually in healthcare costs and lost productivity.
Phasing it out is expected to more than compensate for lost tax revenue from the tobacco industry, but some like Conservative MP Simon Clarke are opposed to the Bill.
He told parliament that the right to smoke in private is someone’s choice, not the state’s.
“I think that we risk creating a huge philosophical as well as practical problem, which will lead, undoubtedly, to further rights creep as the years go by,” he added.
“Because it is likely that the health lobby, the interventionist lobby, as the shadow secretary of state put it in his speech, will use this as a logic which will allow them to move into other fields.”
Sir Clarke also said a ban could help create a black market and “risks making smoking cooler”. He suggested using education and the tax system instead to deter people from taking up the habit.
While lobby groups similarly claim that the legislation will lead to an increase in illegal cigarette trade, proponents say there is no evidence to support this, unlike the data linked to an outright ban.
Dr Allen Gallagher, research fellow from the University of Bath, said it is about “having responsible policy”.
“When you ban a product outright, there is an increased risk then of unintended consequences, such as fuelling the illicit trade,” he noted.
“In terms of tobacco bans, we haven’t seen a lot of outright bans. But an example we did see was in South Africa during the COVID crisis, and research has indicated there was an increase in illicit trade at that point.”
The Bill also aims to make vapes less appealing to children but restricting flavours, packaging and marketing.
It does not ban vaping as e-vaporisers do not contain tobacco, but public health officials are concerned about the growing popularity of vapes among the younger generation. Despite limited data on the health impacts of vaping, it is feared to stunt lung and brain development, and may act as a gateway to smoking.
[ad_2]
Source link