By Samuel Ukah
According to the Office for National Statistics, 12.9% of people aged 18 and over smoked cigarettes. This is the lowest it has been since reports began in 2011. Despite the figures showing a decrease in current smokers across the UK, prime minister Rishi Sunak has plans to implement a smoking ban by raising the legal age to buy cigarettes by one year, every year. He plans to work with devolved governments to implement this plan across the United Kingdom, meaning Scotland could potentially be affected.
Pharmacist & medical school student Paul Murray to truly understand the impact of smoking on public health.
“You are at risk of deep vein thrombosis, stroke, heart attacks, coronary heart disease, all these things shoot up off of the back of smoking”.
Paul also told me how smoking affects your cardiovascular system.
“Instantly, when you smoke a cigarette your lung function goes down, so somebody who smokes a cigarette and tries to run won’t make it as far as the person that didn’t if they were completely equal at the start”
Smokers in Scotland I spoke to backed up this statement.
“I’ve been smoking fairly consistently for about 4 years, I think in terms of my cardiovascular experience, it has been much worse whilst doing sports, my skin has been breaking out, and in general my throat is incredibly dry all the time” – Johnny Little
Daniel shared similar thoughts with Johnny
“I’ve been smoking since I was 16 years old, so over 10 years now. I can feel it when I’m doing sports, so I’m not that sporty anymore, and also I need to breathe harder. -Daniel Cecura
Scotland has not been shy in introducing new smoking laws across the country. The Scottish Government banned tobacco adverts in 2002, banned smoking in enclosed public spaces in 2006, as well as raising the legal age to buy tobacco in 2007.
Viable Alternatives
A rise in cigarette alternatives such as vapes and nicotine gum have been shown to help people quit or reduce their smoking habits as research suggests. However, some smokers I spoke to preferred smoking an actual cigarette.
“I’ve tried all the alternatives of what’s available but none have really managed to get me off cigarettes” – Johnny Little.
Will the smoking ban succeed?
Both Paul and the smokers I spoke to believe that the smoking ban will improve public health in the future, however some people online has shown their disdain towards this approach.
“It will be a generational thing… it will be slow, so all the people with existing COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), once that generation that have already been diagnosed eventually die off, it will result in better public health”. – Paul Murray
“I think it will be good for people in the future, but I think for smokers right now, they feel their civil liberties have been taken away to make their own choices and they are not going to be happy with it”. – Johnny Little
If this impacts you or are concerned about the affects of smoking has on you please visit:
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/quit-smoking/nhs-stop-smoking-services-help-you-quit/
https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/lifestyle/what-are-the-health-risks-of-smoking/
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