The Younger they Start, the Harder it is to Quit
Government approved another new law for to stop children being lured into smoking. It announced that cigarette packets should be just black and white with any distinctive branding removed.
Ministers are considering further restrictions on tobacco after the success of the band on smoking in public places and raising the legal age to buy products from 16 to 18. Cancer Research UK has called also for cigarette vending machines to be banned, packets to be placed under the counter in shops and all branding on packaging to be removed. Researchers have found that the likelihood of a child taking up smoking increases by 35 percent for every tobacco brand they know.
According to a study more than 80 percent of smokers start before the age of 19 and half of all long-term smokers will die of cancer or other smoking-related diseases. Currently around 22 percent of the population smoke, that’s why new measures are needed for to help reduce smoking among young people.
Researchers found that the point of sale displays allow tobacco companies to package and market cigarettes with powerful brand imagery to allure new smokers. The Government’s aim is to put tobacco out of sight and out of mind for to protect all young people. As said Professor Gerard Hastings, director of social marketing at the University of Stirling: "We know that the younger you are when you start smoking the harder it is to quit."
