Packets of ten cigarettes could be banned because they are more affordable for youngsters.
Pub vending machines and shop displays of cigarettes may also be outlawed as part of a renewed crackdown on smoking.
Ministers believe the moves could save hundreds of lives by cutting the number of smokers and discouraging young people from taking up the habit.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson in The Mirror:
“We’ll launch a consultation document on that next week. This is right because younger people are more influenced by advertising.
“Two hundred thousand kids under 16 start smoking every year. And actually their chances of a premature death from smoking are three times higher than if they had started smoking in their 20s.”
Cigarettes will no longer be available over the counter and cigarette vending machines will be outlawed under plans to be announced this week.
Only months after the Government raised the age for buying cigarettes to 18, the Health Secretary said that more anti-smoking measures were likely to be introduced, including banning packets of ten.
Filed under: tobacco
