Changes in smoking laws

Since smoking bans in enclosed public places have been introduced throughout the UK many smokers are attempting to quit. But there are still about 10 million adult cigarette smokers in the UK.

The human cost of smoking is that an estimated 114,000 people die from smoking-related diseases such as heart disease and lung cancer every year in the UK. That compares with 3,500 dying from traffic accidents. Cigarette smoking is responsible for one in every five deaths in Britain, equating to 2,300 people dying every week or one person roughly every four and a half minutes. The impact is greater in younger age groups and men with one in three male smokers dying prematurely as a result of smoking.

Government policy aims to reduce the numbers of smokers in the UK by 1.5 million by 2010. Introducing a ban on smoking in enclosed public places in England in July 2007 is a step towards achieving that aim. The government estimates that this change in legislation will result in 600,000 fewer smokers over time.

And, in the latest bid to encourage young people not to begin smoking in the first place, the age limit to buy cigarettes increased from 16 to 18 years on the 1st October 2007

There has never been a better time to stop smoking.