Clause 21
Health Bill [Lords]
4:15 pm
Gillian Merron (Minister of State (Public Health), Department of Health; Lincoln, Labour)
Of course, it is both, and we will discuss that. It is important not to ignore the second part, which is that we have a duty to support those who want to quit, but we also have a huge duty not to allow young people to be recruited into the ranks of smokers, which is what the tobacco industry wants.
A range of research studies has considered the effect of tobacco displays on people who are trying to quit. Cancer Research UK’s 2008 report—I have placed a copy in the Library— summarised some of the published papers. Based on previous research, Cancer Research UK says that display
“stimulates impulse purchases and undermines the efforts to quit.”
If hon. Members want more evidence, I refer to the youth tobacco policy survey, which was set up to measure the impact of restrictions on tobacco advertising on children in the UK. The study began in 1999 and took place five times over seven years with nearly 6,000 adolescents with an average age of 13 taking part. Several papers have been published based on the data collected. The survey showed a decreasing level of awareness of tobacco among young people where tobacco advertising has been banned.