Smoking? You must be joking...

Rewind to less than four years ago. People were able to smoke in pubs, bars, on a bus, pretty much anywhere they chose to. Lighting up was a common occurrence in most places you went, and you would almost always expect a smoky atmosphere as you enter the room. However, in England on 1st July 2007, smoking in public areas was banned. Since then it has been confined to designated smoking areas when smoking is practiced in public areas in order not to spoil the welfare of non-smokers.

Fast forwarding to the present day, the government have stamped their authority by banning the display of cigarettes and tobacco on show. Announced only a few days ago, this will come into force as early as next year for the large supermarkets and not until 2015 for the smaller shops and convenience stores. This is part of the big crackdown by the government to try and reduce the number of people smoking across the country, and also stifle others from taking up the habit.

However, will it go up in smoke? The smoking ban 4 years ago has not made a significant impact on levels of smokers in the UK, but it did serve a slightly different purpose, to battle the threat of passive smoking. In that sense it was successful, with non-smokers being able to enjoy their nights out more without absorbing the cigarette smoke that lingers in the vicinity.

Currently just over a fifth of adults smoke in the UK, a figure which has been levelling off in recent years, after dramatic drops between 1974 and 2001 from 45% to below 25%. The aim of this new measure is to reduce smoking numbers from 21.2% to 18.5% within the next 5 years, with a particular focus on the under-age and women who are pregnant.

On the face of it, this fresh law doesn’t appear to be able to make the significant impact that ministers clearly want it to do. Regular smokers already know the brand of cigarettes they’ll be purchasing before they even enter the shop, without needing a big display to remind them. Couple this with a teenager’s biggest enemy, peer pressure, and the cigarette kiosks in supermarkets and corner shops alike do not really seem to affect a person’s intentions on whether they want to smoke or not.

However, I can see the potential effect the ban could have, as well as the shortcomings. For example, the sight of tobacco would not be imposed on anyone, especially the younger generation, who are more likely to try new things. I can definitely see the attraction of cigarette displays to teenagers, with the layout of the brightly coloured array of boxes being striking, somewhat like an old-fashioned sweet shop. Plus, without the magnetism of such displays, younger children would be less likely to develop a mindset of wanting to try them if cigarette’s commercial muscle wasn’t imposed upon them. There is something much more daunting about having to ask the cashier about what cigarettes there are on offer, than to just simply pick a well known brand out of the crowd of packets and buy them.

Attitudes within the country have changed dramatically since the 1950s where posters could be seen everywhere of glamorous girls taking a drag of a cigarette, promoting smoking as a very fashionable habit. Back then, 8 out of 10 men smoked. However now the worrying statistic is attributed to 15 year olds, as whilst it’s illegal to purchase tobacco at that age, 1 in 7 still say they smoke on a regular basis. Since the 1950s we have all become more health-conscious of the effects of smoking, and this can be accounted for in the decline of smokers, yet there is still an element of “coolness” surrounding smoking amongst some young people.

The government are also considering a proposal for all cigarettes to be sold in plain packets, in an effort to try and dull down their appearance. This would of course make cigarettes a more boring prospect to teenagers, making them less likely to buy some. It may not make such a telling impact on the regulars though. Even though the familiar colours of each brand will disappear, brand attachment will mean smokers won’t necessarily give up just because their cigarettes aren’t in the beloved gold packet they fell in love with.

Research in other countries who have employed similar laws have shown promising results such as in Canada, where one area reported a drop of around a quarter of smoking teenagers five years after a below-the-counter law was enforced. So while there is both evidence for teenagers giving up with the removal of advertising, it’s also synonymous that younger people are far less likely to take up smoking in New Zealand due to the removal of cigarette displays.

Year after year the government wages war against smoking and this latest ban could have the potential to stub out interest in smoking amongst teenagers. While the effect on regular smokers seems minimal, the government are focusing on the younger generation, and I think if less and less teenagers are not overawed by the sight of cigarettes then you’ll see a drop in numbers of them taking up smoking. However, it may not be as big a drop as ministers will be hoping it is. People are more liable to smoke if the majority of their friends already do so, and this type of conformity has a much larger effect than cigarette displays. Whereas people are less likely to take up smoking if none of the people they socialise with do, meaning they would feel alienated having to go outside for a cigarette on their own.

I’m not sure what the impact of this new law against smoking will be, especially amongst older people, but it could shape the next generation’s mindset into something more smoke-free. It may take a lot longer than five years to see the direct effect of the ban, with younger people not reminded of cigarettes every time they walk into their local shop. There has definitely been a mixed reaction about this ruling and mixed fortunes seem to be the predicted outcome, so it seems the chances of success will be close, but no cigar.