UK MP suggests promoting e-cigarettes on cigarette packaging
UK Pharmacy Minister Steve Brine once said he would consider promoting e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool on cigarette outer packaging. MP Stephen Metcalfe raised the proposal during a House of Commons Science and Technology Committee hearing on e-c
UK Pharmacy Minister Steve Brine once said he would consider promoting e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool on cigarette outer packaging. MP Stephen Metcalfe raised the proposal during a House of Commons Science and Technology Committee hearing on e-cigarettes. “That’s an interesting suggestion. Let me think about it,” Brine told lawmakers. “At a time when resources are tight, that kind of messaging would be very direct.”
The pharmacy minister pointed out that a large body of data shows e-cigarettes have clear advantages.
If more in-depth research can be conducted into the relative advantages of e-cigarettes, then using these devices as smoking cessation tools would be a wise choice.
In response, Tim Baxter, Director of Healthy Behaviours at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), explained that under the UK’s current regulatory framework, it is illegal to print any promotional content on cigarette packaging. However, he added that he agreed with the suggestion and that the government should consider it.
The speakers also discussed the major regional differences in stop-smoking services across the UK. Brine said that while individual councils should decide how to use the £16 billion allocated to public health, he believes that if more in-depth research confirms the relative advantages of e-cigarettes, then using these devices as smoking cessation tools would be a sensible move.
Image of Marlboro’s new cigarette packaging
This statement is very familiar to many people. Translated into Chinese, it means: “E-cigarettes are 95% less harmful to human health than traditional cigarettes — Public Health England (PHE).”
Marlboro is one of the best-known tobacco brands in the world. Nothing feels more symbolic than having a cigarette company effectively acknowledge that “e-cigarettes are healthier than cigarettes.” By putting this message on its own new cigarette packaging, Marlboro is telling the world that e-cigarettes are healthier than cigarettes, essentially advertising e-cigarettes everywhere on its own packs. It is as if Marlboro is undermining its own business, which is quite astonishing.
The UK is leading the way in tobacco harm reduction through e-cigarette use
This discussion is an example of how much more progressive the UK is compared with countries such as the United States and Australia, which continue to take an unreasonably harsh stance on these products despite the available scientific evidence. The UK remains a leader in using e-cigarettes for harm reduction, and there is extensive data to support this.
In the UK, there are now more than 500,000 fewer smokers than in 2015, meaning the country has the second-lowest smoking rate in Europe, behind only Sweden. “It is hard to believe now that in 1974 nearly half of all adults smoked. But that is now coming to an end, and we have a real opportunity to eliminate all the harm, suffering, and death caused by smoking,” said Duncan Selbie, Chief Executive of Public Health England, last summer.
The pharmacy minister pointed out that a large body of data shows e-cigarettes have clear advantages.If more in-depth research can be conducted into the relative advantages of e-cigarettes, then using these devices as smoking cessation tools would be a wise choice.
In response, Tim Baxter, Director of Healthy Behaviours at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), explained that under the UK’s current regulatory framework, it is illegal to print any promotional content on cigarette packaging. However, he added that he agreed with the suggestion and that the government should consider it.
The speakers also discussed the major regional differences in stop-smoking services across the UK. Brine said that while individual councils should decide how to use the £16 billion allocated to public health, he believes that if more in-depth research confirms the relative advantages of e-cigarettes, then using these devices as smoking cessation tools would be a sensible move.
Image of Marlboro’s new cigarette packaging
This statement is very familiar to many people. Translated into Chinese, it means: “E-cigarettes are 95% less harmful to human health than traditional cigarettes — Public Health England (PHE).”Marlboro is one of the best-known tobacco brands in the world. Nothing feels more symbolic than having a cigarette company effectively acknowledge that “e-cigarettes are healthier than cigarettes.” By putting this message on its own new cigarette packaging, Marlboro is telling the world that e-cigarettes are healthier than cigarettes, essentially advertising e-cigarettes everywhere on its own packs. It is as if Marlboro is undermining its own business, which is quite astonishing.
The UK is leading the way in tobacco harm reduction through e-cigarette use
This discussion is an example of how much more progressive the UK is compared with countries such as the United States and Australia, which continue to take an unreasonably harsh stance on these products despite the available scientific evidence. The UK remains a leader in using e-cigarettes for harm reduction, and there is extensive data to support this.
In the UK, there are now more than 500,000 fewer smokers than in 2015, meaning the country has the second-lowest smoking rate in Europe, behind only Sweden. “It is hard to believe now that in 1974 nearly half of all adults smoked. But that is now coming to an end, and we have a real opportunity to eliminate all the harm, suffering, and death caused by smoking,” said Duncan Selbie, Chief Executive of Public Health England, last summer.
