Tobacco smoking in the United Kingdom

Tobacco smoking in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Tobacco smoking in the United Kingdom has caused adverse effects on smokers. The Government has enacted several policies to reduce the number of tobacco smokers. Smoking of tobacco in public places have been banned to protect non-smokers from the harmful effects of tobacco smoking. Imposing high taxes on tobacco products has also helped to reduce the number of tobacco smokers in the United Kingdom. Data from the United Kingdom has been used to emphasize the effects of tobacco smoking. The government still have the challenge to introduce new policies to reduce the number of cigarette smokers significantly.

Introduction

Tobacco smoking is legally permitted in the United Kingdom to the people aged 18 years and above. Smoking in the UK has rapidly increased hence becoming a major health threat to the current and future world health. Estimated 7.4 million people, which is almost 15of the population smoked tobacco in the year 2017 according to Annual Population Survey. Tobacco smoking has adverse effects on its users and therefore, need for Government to enact policies to reduce the number of tobacco smokers. In the UK, the greatest cause of early deaths comes from tobacco-related diseases[1]. The UK government has put measures in place to control the number of tobacco smokers. As part of this commitment, the government has included Annual No Smoking Day in their calendar. Lung cancer is one of the tobacco-related diseases, which results in health problems on tobacco smokers. Tobacco smoking in the United Kingdom has become a common practice to both the old and the young, which has led the government to embark on formulating policies to reduce the number of smokers and therefore, reduce the number of deaths resulting from tobacco-related diseases

Discussions

Tobacco smokers have various responses to the reasons why they smoke cigarettes. In the 20th century, there was a mass production of cigarettes in the United Kingdom by cigarettes manufacturers. The mass production of the commodity led to the availability of cheap tobacco cigarettes, and the number of cigarettes smokers increased drastically where tobacco smoking became a common phenomenon in the United Kingdom[2]. Advertisements of tobacco products on television channels and social media p have influenced a certain number of people to start smoking although the number is not significant. Research shows that the age group of 25-34 years has the largest number of tobacco smokers as compared to other age groups. The prevalence of tobacco smoking also depends on social-economic status. The study shows that people working as manual laborers are more likely to smoke as compared to the people working in managerial duties.  Peer influence is a significant factor influencing tobacco smoking among adolescents. At the adolescent stage, the youths are eager to try everything, and they can easily be affected by their friends to cigarette smoking behavior. In the United Kingdom, a young teenager who experiments smoking due to peer pressure ends up becoming daily smokers.

The Annual Population Survey in the United Kingdom showed that tobacco smoking prevalence had a relationship with economic status and education. The 2017 survey showed that a large proportion of unemployed people of 29.6% smoked tobacco as compared to a percentage of 15.5% employed people who smoked the cigarette[3]. The survey further revealed that a large proportion of people who had no academic qualifications smoked tobacco as compared to educated people

Smoking tobacco has harmful effects on the health of smokers and also on the people around the smokers. Many preventable deaths in the United Kingdom are attributed to tobacco-related diseases. Cancer Research UK reported that an estimated 107,000 people in the UK died from tobacco-related diseases in 2007[4]. One of the major health risks of smoking tobacco is lung cancer. The Cancer Research UK in 2007 revealed that 86% of cancer deaths were as a result of smoking tobacco. Smoking tobacco does not only cause lung cancer but also causes other types of cancer including mouth, pharynx, nose, liver, cervix, and kidney. The number of years an individual is involved in smoking determines the smoker’s risk of suffering from cancer. The more years spent in smoking, the higher the risk to the smoker of suffering from cancer. Research has shown that for every 15 cigarettes smoked, there is a DNA change, which could cause a cell in the body of the smoker to become cancerous. Tobacco has harmful chemicals such as benzo(a)pyrene, which damages the part of DNA that protects our cells from cancer[5]. Compounds present in tobacco also damaged the cleaning system of the smoker’s body hence making the body of the smoker incapable of dealing with harmful toxins resulting in lung cancer. Most of the early deaths in the United Kingdom are caused by tobacco-related diseases and therefore the need of the government to control the number of tobacco smokers.

Policies and measures have been put in the United Kingdom to reduce the alarming number of tobacco smokers. One method which has been used to control the number of tobacco smokers is by imposing more tax on cigarettes[6]. Young people in the United Kingdom including pupils in the primary level of education have access to cigarettes due to their low prices. Taxing more on the commodity will increase the cost of cigarettes and hence reducing the number of people who can afford to buy cigarettes. Passive smokers suffer the same effects of tobacco as active smokers. Smoking in public places was banned since 26 March 2016 in Scotland. Public smoking was also declared illegal in Wales since 2 April 2007. The banning of public smoking in the United Kingdom reduced the effects of tobacco on innocent, passive smokers. Welsh Government in the United Kingdom introduced the use of electronic cigarettes which produced no smoke to help the young tobacco cigarettes which are willing to quit tobacco smoking. Several countries in the United Kingdom has also banned public advertisements of tobacco products. Annual No Smoking Day has also been introduced where the locals are warned about the harmful effects of smoking tobacco, and this campaign has contributed much in recent reduction of tobacco smokers in the United Kingdom.

Conclusion and Recommendations

In summary, tobacco smoking is a common practice for both the youth and the old people in the United Kingdom. Many lung cancer deaths in the United Kingdom are caused by tobacco-related diseases. The government should continue by introducing new laws and policies to reduce the number of tobacco smokers. The best way tobacco smokers can evade the harmful effects of tobacco is by quitting smoking. Organizations should be put in place to help people who are willing to quit smoking cigarettes. Smoking in public affects innocent citizens who are not active  smokers and puts them in the risk of suffering from lung cancer. In the countries where smoking in public has been banned, anyone caught smoking in public should face the necessary punishment according to the law. The government should put measures to encourage tobacco smokers to quit smoking cigarettes to reduce tobacco-related diseases. Individuals, organizations, and religious groups should raise and support campaign against tobacco smoking.

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