MIDLANDS TEENAGERS TO BE TARGETED WITH 'UNSEXY' SMOKING IMAGES FROM NEXT YEAR

1.25.22pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 28th Sep 2007

Raising the minimum age for the purchase of tobacco to 18 from the 1st of October is only a first step in the drive to turn teenagers away from smoking, claims a West Midlands Euro-MP.

The government claims that raising the legal age to 18 will make it easier for retailers to spot underage smokers. Currently only 23 per cent of those under 16 are said to experience difficulty when trying to buy cigarettes.

From October 2008 tobacco manufacturers will be required to supplement written health warnings on cigarette packs with graphic pictures aimed at ending the 'sexy' image of smoking.

West Midlands Liberal Democrat MEP Liz Lynne is strongly in favour of the EU legislation that created the images which range from diseased lungs and cancerous tumours to messages about the link between smoking and male impotence.

She explains that the aim was to curb the peer pressure which leads to young people taking their first smoke, often before they are 16 years old.

Liz Lynne said: "Manufacturers have always tried to present smoking as something that is adult, cool and sexy. Once hooked the addictive properties of nicotine make it hard to give up. The aim of these pictures is to ensure that there is no chance at all of cigarettes ever again appearing glamorous."

Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament tabled the amendment to the EU's 2001 Sale of Tobacco Directive that allows governments to introduce the picture warnings on cigarette packs. This won cross-party support and eventually persuaded EU ministers and the European Commission to accept the idea.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

The younger people start smoking, the more likely they are to become life-long smokers and to die early. Someone who starts smoking aged 15 is three times more likely to die of cancer than someone who starts in their late twenties.

The idea for picture warnings came from Canada, where since 2000 cigarette packets have carried pictures to highlight the health risks of smoking. Research shows that the illustrations significantly increase the impact of written messages, with 44% of Canadian smokers claiming that they have increased their motivation to stop smoking.