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Liverpool: City's plan to stub out cigarettes for good
Almost £2m is to be spent on an "ambitious strategy" to make a city "smoke free" by 2030.
Some 17% of Liverpudlians are classed as smokers and they spend almost £2,500 a year on the habit, the council said.
Proposals are being put forward to Liverpool City Council’s cabinet spelling out how to clamp down on the city’s “biggest preventable killer”.
The authority hopes a focus on prevention and embedding more smoke free environments will help to “denormalise” smoking.
A cabinet report said: “The council wants Liverpool to become a smoke free city allowing all its communities to live longer, healthier and wealthier lives in a city where they can play and work without exposure to the harms of tobacco smoke."
The plan, known as Stopping the Start, was drawn up following an independent review in 2022.
The council said: "Smoking is a major cause of health inequalities in Liverpool.
"In addition to causing avoidable illness, smoking does this disproportionately, by creating a greater burden for the most disadvantaged families and communities."
The council said an "ambitious strategy" was required to take a different approach to previous attempts to butt out cigarettes across the city.
Chaired by Professor Matt Ashton, director of public health, it will also lead the creation of a detailed action plan that sets out a direction towards eliminating smoking and tobacco-related harm in Liverpool.
The strategy is being unveiled just days after the government’s proposals to prevent the sale of tobacco to anyone born after January 1 2009 were shelved ahead of the general election.
Both Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour said they remained committed to the policy outlined in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
Source: BBC news, 29 May 2024
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Over 10,000 illegal vapes seized by Oxfordshire County Council
A warning has been issued by Oxfordshire County Council’s trading standards team about the dangers of illegal disposable vapes after total seizures across the county reached 10,000.
This reflects a national trend amid safety concerns and a proposed ban on disposable vapes announced by government in January. Figures from the Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) charity suggest 7.6 per cent of 11 to 17 year olds now vape regularly or occasionally, up from 4.1 per cent in 2020.
Councillor Dr Nathan Ley, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Health, Inequalities and Community Safety, said: “Rechargeable vapes are a proven tool for adult smokers to help with quitting smoking and are almost twice as effective as other forms of nicotine replacement therapy. However, they should not be used by children or non-smokers as nicotine is highly addictive, with withdrawal sometimes causing anxiety, trouble concentrating and headaches. This is alongside other unknown long-term effects on health.”
Jody Kerman, Oxfordshire County Council’s Head of Trading Standards, said: “We have recently seen a very concerning but unfortunately predictable development where reasonably sophisticated concealments, secured by electromagnet, have been used in an attempt to evade detection. This is clear evidence that illegal vapes are now being deliberately sold by organised crime groups”.
“Whilst the Tobacco and Vapes Bill is very welcome, this is clearly going to be a significant problem for many years to come”.
Source: Asian Trader, 29 May 2024
See also: ASH - New figures show youth vaping has plateaued while adult vaping is at an all-time high
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.
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