cigarettes in target 1940's Cigarette Vintage Tobacco Poster White Bubble Gum Cigarettes Ready to blow some serious candy smoke rings Cigarettes: Anatomy of an Industry

In 2019/20, 506,100 hospital admissions can be attributed to smoking, which translates into 4% of all hospital admissions 1 Smokers are also a key driver of lost productivity estimated to be at 13.2bn each year due to smokers being more likely to become ill while of working age 2 Due to being more prone to sickness and long-term health implications, there is an estimated cost to the NHS of 1.2bn and an additional 1.2bn to social care each year 2 As a result, reducing smoking is a key priority for health services in England 7,10 Smokers visit their GP 35% more than non-smokers GPs services are already in high demand 9 , with even more strains on it following the Covid-19 pandemic 9

But when a legislative proposal can be seen to have word-for-word sections that almost perfectly mimic the proposals for amendments of particular business or industry interests, especially those that are at odds with the public interest in strong health policy, there is very clearly a problem

it is a super quick three and a half hours of your life

Winn DM, Lee YC, Hashibe M, Boffetta P