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| Sunday, 17 March 2002 |
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British gov't to stub out tobacco advertising by year end LONDON, March 16 (AFP) - Tobacco advertising in Britain may be stubbed out by the end of this year after the British government said Friday that it would support legislation to outlaw its promotion. The proposed law would ban advertising of tobacco products in the press, on the Internet and on poster sites. It would also prohibit the promotion of smoking through mailshots, coupons and free distribution of cigarettes. Significantly for some major sports -- Formula One and snooker, to name but two -- it would also bar tobacco firms from sponsoring sporting events. The bill was introduced privately into parliament by a member of the upper House of Lords, and as such would have had little chance of success. However, Health Secretary Alan Milburn said Friday that the government would support the legislation, meaning it is highly likely to get passed. "A ban on tobacco advertising is a tough but proportionate response to the marketing and promotion of the only legally available product which kills one in two of its regular long-term users," he said. The government had actually introduced similar draft legislation last year, but it was scrapped when a general election was called for June. Anti-smoking groups and doctors welcomed the move. Ian Bogle, head of the British Medical Association which represents family doctors, said it could save as many as 3,000 lives a year -- although that is only 2.5 percent of the 120,000 Britons who die of smoking-related conditions every year. "The evidence shows comprehensive advertising bans cut tobacco consumption. That is very good news for the nation's health -- and bad news for the tobacco industry." But Simon Clark, of the Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco group, said the proposed ban was an attack on civil liberties. It was "a typically pointless gesture by a government whose only political philosophy is to nanny us from cradle to grave," he added. |
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