A Tobacco Endgame for Scotland? Katherine Smith and Jasper Been An editorial in the November 2016 edition of Tobacco Control argued that talk about ‘tobacco endgames’ and policies that go ‘beyond ‘business as usual’ is becoming mainstream in a small number of countries, of which Scotland is one (others include New Zealand, Canada, Finland and […]
Category: United Kingdom
UK plain packs court decision: interests at stake ‘collide in the most irreconcilable of ways’
The decision on 19 May 2016 by the High Court of Justice of England and Wales to dismiss the legal challenges brought by the four multinational tobacco companies against the UK’s tobacco plain packaging legislation was a major blow to the industry. The 386 page ruling addresses a wide range of legal claims and evidence; […]
Industry-funded International Tax and Investment Center responds to criticism by attempting to muddy the waters
Karen A Evans-Reeves, Anna B Gilmore and Andy Rowell Tobacco Control Research Group, University of Bath, The tobacco industry is under attack. In just two weeks, in May 2016, its tactic of challenging any law that threatens its profits, took a big hit. The arbitration panel, that tobacco giant Philip Morris International (PMI) had hoped […]
UK: New ‘Quit 16′ campaign tells smokers’ stories
A series of emotional and hard-hitting television ads have been launched in the UK to tell the stories of real former smokers who have been affected by cancer. The ads detail the trauma of diagnosis, the harrowing treatments that they endured and the emotional and physical toll in their lives. Maggie, a 60 year old […]
Should stores selling tobacco be allowed to provide publicly funded health services?
Dr Andrew Furber Follow Dr Furber on Twitter at @FurberA Imagine a patient with a health problem accessing a publicly-funded health service where the substance causing the problem was on sale within the same premises. You would probably think this was completely unethical. But this is exactly what happens in hundreds of supermarkets in […]
Will the UK government go ahead with standardised tobacco packaging or not?
Deborah Arnott Chief Executive, ASH UK It seems like a straightforward question, but as is often the case there isn’t a simple answer. The UK parliament has passed primary legislation which allows it to introduce standardised packaging by regulation, but the government hasn’t yet made a decision to go ahead. This primary legislation is […]