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=ACTION ALERT – MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD TODAY=

-A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR OF FOREST-

Tomorrow (Wednesday 9th March) is No Smoking Day. If tobacco control activists have their way EVERY day will be no smoking day.

Last month the Government launched two independent reviews to tackle health disparities. One will focus on 'ethnic inequalities for medical devices', the other on tobacco control. According to the Government ([link removed]) :

Javed Khan OBE, former CEO of children’s charity Barnardo’s, will lead an independent review of the government’s bold ambition to make England smoke free by 2030. While the government has made good long-term progress in reducing smoking rates to their lowest ever level, there are an estimated 6 million smokers in England and smoking is still one of the largest drivers of health disparities.

Both independent reviews will form part of the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ (OHID) agenda to tackle inequalities in health and care, which will include the publication of the health disparities white paper in spring and the Tobacco Control Plan later in the year.

Javed Khan has since been active on social media encouraging users to contact him. On Twitter, for example, he has posted:

I want to hear your views and what we can do to support current smokers to quit, and to stop people taking up smoking.

Questions he wants answers to include:
* How do we stop people, especially children and young people, from starting smoking in the first place?
* Have you quit smoking for good? What worked? What do you think could work better?
* Changing behaviour is key. What changed your mindset on smoking? Have you been persuaded by what you see in the media?
* What is your view on e-cigarettes? We know they are effective at helping people to quit smoking. How can we stop children and non-smokers from using them?
* Have you ever used a Stop Smoking Service to quit smoking? Or spoken to your GP about it? What was your experience?

It would be very easy to turn our backs on the review on the grounds that nothing we say will change the stop smoking narrative. We may find too that the review is deaf to voices that don't support the 'smoke free' endgame the Government is committed to.

But it would be a mistake to ignore it because whenever consumers have an opportunity to have our say we MUST take it.

If Javed Khan genuinely wants to hear people's views on smoking it's important that confirmed smokers – those who don't want to quit or be forced to quit – make their views known too.

Likewise non-smokers like me who are sick of the constant and often degrading war on smoking that treats adults like children and attempts to restrict – with further rules and regulations – our ability to make informed choices for ourselves.

I must stress that you don't have to be on social media to respond to the review and I would strongly suggest that you don't use the medium of 280 characters on Twitter.

Instead, if you have a serious point (it doesn't have to be long), you should email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) and I urge you to do so. For example:

If you are a confirmed smoker who doesn't want to quit or be forced to quit, please write and explain why you smoke. Is it for pleasure, to relieve stress, or something else?

What do you think of the Government's 'Smoke-free 2030' target? Is it desirable let alone achievable?

Do anti-smoking campaigns work or do you find yourself 'reaching for your fags in defiance'?

How much further should government intervene to stop people smoking or has it gone far enough already?

You might also like to respond to some of Javed Khan's questions (above) but feel free to make any other points you think might be relevant to his review.

We know the review may influence the Government's new Tobacco Control Plan so it's extremely important that everyone's views are heard.

Here's a reminder of that email address – [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) – to which you should add the subject line 'Tobacco Independent Review'.

Please respond this week if possible.

Thank you in advance.

Kind regards,

Simon Clark
Director, Forest
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