OK, so the youth of today may consider themselves to be streetwise and savvy, looking down their collective noses at the person using such words that are so…like…last Tuesday. But the government, numerous respected studies, the major political parties and various smoking charities assure us that young people’s decisions are still being influenced, and manipulated, by trends created by targeted marketing that make smoking look ‘cool’ (there you go, another word to show my age). How do you feel about that?

Thankfully ‘big daddy’ (the government) has decided to step in on your behalf and stop all this seducing marketing nonsense from brainwashing young minds into the vice of smoking. Actually, all kidding aside, I think the government have finally got their act together on this. Last week Public Health Minister Jane Ellison announced plans to decimate the tobacco industry’s marketing image by introducing ‘standard’ or ‘plain’ packaging. The ‘standard’ element is that all cigarette packaging is likely to be required to be produced in the same brown colour, but I’m not sure where ‘plain’ comes from because the plans are to cover them in nasty images of rotting teeth and lungs and bold messages about how bad smoking is for your health, leaving only the smallest space for branding or the cigarette company’s name. The idea is that this will curb the ‘cool’ factor in a bid to reduce the 200,000 11 to 15 year olds (among others in wider demographics) enticed to start smoking each year.

Although it seems to have taken forever, as this was first discussed by MPs in parliament in 2010, a vote will probably take place before the election and the proposals are expected to become law in 2016. Of course, the tobacco industry are objecting and there may be legal moves to block this new law, but with cross party support (although UKIP's Nigel Farage seems to have an issue with it – maybe he should take another look at the statistics that show we are losing 120,000 people a year to smoking related deaths before he prioritises jobs over lives),  backing from Professor Dame Sally Davies (the chief medical officer for England), The British Lung Foundation and both sides of the house this is likely to happen sooner rather than later.

Anything that puts a dent in that figure of 200,000 young new smokers each year is something we’re in favour of. But if you are already a smoker and struggling with quitting then have you considered vaping? Yes, I know it sounds a bit funny as names go, but electronic cigarettes really have helped thousands of smokers in Britain to quit when everything else has failed. If you need advice or help, or would like to check out our range, take a look around our site, pop into our shop, or give us a call. We’re here to help.