Sheila Duffy: Stubbing out tobacco adverts lights up future

Published on Wednesday 11 March 2009 08:58

TODAY on No Smoking Day, more than a million smokers across the UK will take the first step to kick the habit and make a positive lifestyle change.

Former smokers will know how appropriate this year's theme of "taking the first step" is. Fortunately, anybody who has the motivation to quit today has a wealth of support options available to help stay stopped.

The NHS provides a wide range of free stop smoking services which can increase your chances of successfully quitting by four times compared to going it alone. Quitting today will have long-term benefits for both your health and your wealth. A one pack a day smoker can save over 40 a week, giving them over 1700 more in their pocket by the end of 2009.

So whilst we congratulate all those who will stop smoking, we must also look ahead to the ways we can ensure future generations of Scots won't have to make the decision to give up an addictive and dangerous product because they have not been tempted to start smoking in the first place.

The Scottish Government's Tobacco Bill aims to do just that by ending the advertising of cigarettes through promotional displays in shops, prohibiting vending machines, and establishing a register of tobacco retailers. 15,000 young Scots start smoking each year but if we can reduce those numbers we can make a huge difference to Scotland's future health.

The tobacco industry invests huge sums of money in adverts – they have to in order to keep making money. They need to recruit more young smokers across the UK each year to replace the 100,000 that either quit or die. In Scotland we have a strong track record in tackling smoking. Stopping the tobacco industry from advertising its product openly in retail outlets alongside the bread, milk, and chocolate bars is a vital step towards reversing the unenviable statistic that one in four adult deaths in Scotland every year is caused by smoking.

For further information visit www.canstopsmoking.com or call the Smokeline free on 0800-84 84 84.

Sheila Duffy is chief executive of ASH Scotland