Over 1,200 health leaders call for swift passage of UK tobacco and vapes bill | Smoking

More than 1,200 public health leaders have called for the tobacco and vaping bill to be passed quickly through parliament to “protect future generations”.

In a cross-party letter, they said the “game-changing” measures outlined were “too important to leave the agenda”.

The House of Lords is set to examine the bill on the first day of the committee stage. The letter notes that there was a six-month gap between the bill’s second reading and Monday’s debate.

The bill makes it illegal for anyone born on or after January 1, 2009, to purchase tobacco. It also includes powers to restrict the packaging, marketing and flavors of e-cigarettes.

The letter signed by more than 1,200 health professionals, including doctors, nurses and public health managers, emphasizes that the bill is urgently needed.

Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said: “Every week, thousands of young people become trapped in a deadly cycle of addiction that will shorten their lives. Tobacco is a uniquely harmful product that kills more than half of long-term users. Politicians can protect future generations by passing this game-changing legislation.”

Latest figures show 11.9% of adults in the UK smoke; This corresponds to approximately 6 million people.

Association of Public Health Executives addiction spokesman Peter Roderick said the bill was “an opportunity to save more lives, protect future generations from addiction to this killer product, and give the 88% of non-smokers the freedom to live healthier lives.”

Tobacco groups have threatened the government with legal action over the proposed generation ban and appealed to right-wing MPs to rally support to water down the proposals.

The Guardian and the Examination, a not-for-profit newsroom that investigates global health threats, reported in June that his Conservative Party colleague Ed Vaizey had suggested delaying the heated tobacco ban, another key proposal in the bill, weeks after a leading cigarette company paid him to visit its research facility in Switzerland.

A survey of more than 2,000 adults by smokers’ rights group Forest found that 58 per cent of respondents would support the alternative to a generational ban, while a quarter said the legal age for tobacco sales would remain at 18 and a third said the age should be raised to 21.