Could Smoking Be Banned In Guernsey?

As the UK considers an age cut-off for cigarettes - effectively banning them - Guernsey's Director of Public Health says a similar conversation was held here earlier this year.

Guernsey's Substance Use Technical Team met on 8 June (2023) to discuss how to move the community towards being smoke-free.

They considered annual increases in duty on tobacco products, implementing further restrictions in outdoor venues, and limiting the sale of tobacco products to people born after a certain year.

The last suggestion echoes Rishi Sunak's announcement on Wednesday - which would effectively mean a 14-year-old today would never legally be able to buy a cigarette in the UK.

A public consultation is currently being drafted.

Guernsey's Director of Public Health, Dr Nicola Brink, says the 'global epidemic' of smoking needs to be tackled locally:

"The World Health Organisation says the tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats that the world has ever faced.

And they go on to say that all forms of tobacco use are harmful and there is no safe level of exposure.

We know that 10% of deaths, in the over 35s are caused by smoking and that equates to about 58 islander deaths a year."

She explains how it can affect people throughout their lives:

"It significantly increases things like stillbirths and of course, can act as a trigger for things like asthma in children.

In older individuals we get premature heart disease, stroke, heart failure, and the risk of dementia.

And we've also got to think of secondhand smoking. People can choose to smoke themselves but people around them could also be affected by passive smoking"