Volume 1
The tobacco industry and the health risks of smoking : second report / Health Committee.
- Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Health Committee
- Date:
- 2000
Licence: Open Government Licence
Credit: The tobacco industry and the health risks of smoking : second report / Health Committee. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![(ee) (ff) (gg) (hh) (ii) Gj) (kk) (1) Given that, because of their addiction, people will demand cigarettes for the foreseeable future, it is clearly preferable that they smoke ‘safer’ cigarettes. We therefore hope that such products will be developed. We note the argument put forward by some of the companies that the successful marketing of such products is stymied by the regulatory framework. We recommend that the new Tobacco Regulatory Authority which we want to see established should have powers to review and approve applications from companies to market such products in a way which conveys their potential benefits compared to normal cigarettes, as long as full information about the product is provided and assessed by an independent panel of experts (appointed by the Authority), a process which should be funded - via a charge by the Authority - by the company applying. There should then be regular and rigorous reviews of the product and its effects to ensure that it deserves to retain its preferential marketing status. We would expect that status to be very narrowly defined and its promulgation strictly enforced by the Authority (paragraph 146). We believe responsibility for licensing additives permitted for use in tobacco products sold in the UK should be passed to the Tobacco Regulatory Authority we propose below. We further believe that this body should take account of the overall public health impact of the inclusion of an additive in determining whether or not it should be permitted for use in tobacco products (paragraph 154). We think that the position of the tobacco companies in withholding information on the additives their cigarettes contain is completely untenable. Consumers have a right to know what they are smoking, including the percentage of the product such additives form, and we believe that this information should be available on every packet. We believe the companies should immediately take steps to ensure this is done and that the Secretary of State should introduce measures to make such labelling a mandatory requirement for cigarettes sold or manufactured in the UK (paragraph 158). We do not believe it would be appropriate for health policy to be shaped by the activities of criminal gangs. With this in mind we welcome the additional funding the Treasury is providing to boost Customs and Excise in their efforts to secure compliance with the law [in respect of smuggling of tobacco products into the UK] (paragraph 164). We welcome the fact that the Government has launched its ambitious recent [tobacco education] campaign. We are not, however, convinced that the Government has enough knowledge of the reasons why people smoke to make such a campaign fully effective (paragraph 165). . We would draw the attention of health education authorities to the materials we have uncovered from the advertising agencies relating to the motivations of young and adult smokers. We believe that if this material were to be analysed carefully it could yield important information which could be used to dissuade people from smoking (paragraph 169). We think it important that the information provided by public health authorities on cigarette packets, and given out in public health campaigns (in schools, workplaces, via primary care or through other media) adopts a greater variety of messages and conveys information not yet addressed in the health warnings. We believe that the general assertions that “smoking causes heart disease” or “smoking causes lung cancer”, whilst having a place in an overall educational strategy, are not in themselves sufficient (paragraph 170). We believe that the Department of Health should instigate a much more comprehensive and sophisticated educational programme. From our meetings with public health groups in America we think it is vital that young people should themselves be actively involved in dissuading their peers from smoking (paragraph 172).](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32221083_0001_0080.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
