Smuggling cigarettes
10 October 2008
A cancer charity has gone on record to claim that smuggled cigarettes cause more than 4000 deaths a year.
They believe that more people, possibly four times the amount of people are dieing because of cheap illegal imported cigarettes as are killed by hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine. They have called on the UK Government to do more to stop this problem.
The argument is that the availability of cheaper cigarettes, although illegal, encourages smokers to purchase more, and thus smoke more. This then leads onto an increased risk of premature death.
The Charity’s Research Director of Tobacco studies suggests that by eliminating the smuggled cigs, this would lead to an estimated drop of 4000 people in the deaths of British citizens, caused by smoking.
This compares with around 1000 deaths blamed on heroin and cocaine. Prof West said: "Smuggled tobacco is more dangerous than duty-paid tobacco because it brings tobacco on to the market cheaply, making cigarettes more affordable. "Cost is a major deterrent to smoking and the availability of cheap cigarettes, often for sale at half to a third of their official price, removes or greatly weakens the price incentive to quit.
Her Majesty’s Customs own figures suggest that £18billion of the total UK £82billion cigarette market is made up of smuggled cigarettes.E cigs are addictive alternative
09 October 2008
Since the smoking ban came in to foce in July 2007, in the UK, local pubs have been reporting massive declines in the number of customers visiting them. Many of the landlords put this down to the fact that smokers are no longer allowed to smoke inside the pub; they must smoke outside.
As reported by the Telegraph, Chris Giles of the Butler's Arms in Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham believes he has found the perfect ban busting solution, which could soon see many of his smoking parons return.
The E.cig or electronic cigarette expells 'smoke' like a real cigarette and users recieve a real shot of nicotine every time they inhale (the level of nicotine depends on the strength of electronic cigarette).
The device produces a cloud of water vapour with every puff which emulates the look of cigarette smoke, though it has no smell or taste. It is believed to "cause no harm to smokers", although they have yet to be subjected to clinical trials by the World Health Organisation.
The Butlers Arms started selling the electronic cigarettes last weekend after seeing them in a trade magazine. Mr Giles is quoted as saying that: "When it's freezing outside and chucking it down with rain it's a good alternative to going outside for a cigarette.
"We built a smoking shelter, but it's just not the same for smokers who have been marginalised by the ban.
He continues by saying how supportive he is of the smoking ban: "While we are completely supportive of the smoking ban, we are still very conscious of the needs of our smoking customers".
Users should note that they can choose between No nicotine, Low, medium or high nicotine level cigarettes, as well as ones containing menthol, strawberry or cherry.
One of the makers of the product at The Electronic Cigarette Company say the vapour produced is odourless and contains no tar or carbon monoxide, resulting in no risk of passive smoking.
However the company do note that due to the addictive nature of the Nicotine contained in them, the E.cigs are just as addictive as the real thing.
