Smoking is too deadly to remain an option for future generations
SIR – The criticism of Rishi Sunak’s anti-smoking legislation (Letters, April 18) skirts over the fact that smoking more than doubles the risk of heart disease, significantly increases the incidence of heart attacks among younger people, and encourages the development of lung cancer and other pulmonary diseases.
In 1950 Richard Doll and Austin Bradford Hill first associated cigarette smoking with these conditions. The subsequent reduction in tobacco use in Britain meant that, by 2005, the proportion of men killed by it before the age of 70 had fallen from 20 per cent in 1970 to 5 per cent.
If a consequence of restricting cigarette sales to young men and women is that they lead healthier and longer lives, the benefits must surely outweigh the nanny-statism involved. Dr S K Goolamali
Northwood, Middlesex to be angry about a phased smoking ban. It’s younger generations that will lose the so-called freedom to use tobacco, not people who are currently allowed to smoke. All those who still want to buy cigarettes and cigars will remain able to do so. Non-smokers, meanwhile, can’t miss a habit they haven’t started.
In the past, smoking was something adolescents did behind their parents’ backs, like underage drinking. However, from what I’ve seen in recent years, this isn’t the case with British teenagers anymore. Even before vaping was introduced, smoking had been falling out of fashion, regarded as a bad, smelly activity that the average smoker spent the rest of their lives trying to stop.
An outright ban would probably create a black market, and I can understand concerns about that. But please don’t whine about freedoms. There are many dangerous intoxicants that are banned, but I don’t hear politicians championing the right to take cannabis, ecstasy or LSD – drugs that may well be less harmful than tobacco.
Emilie Mcrae
Trowbridge, Wiltshire
SIR – Those who compare Rishi Sunak’s smoking legislation with other public health measures, such as the wearing of seatbelts (Letters, April 18), ignore the fact that these measures were applied across the board. They did not create a situation where two adults could have different rights, depending solely on their date of birth.
Paul Leigh
Yateley, Hampshire
SIR – This legislation is being described as Rishi Sunak’s “legacy”. Compare that with the achievements of previous prime ministers. Boris Johnson, for all his faults, could at least point to Brexit.
If phasing out smoking is Mr Sunak’s legacy then that is pathetic.