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Smoking ban triggers record quit rates

30/06/2008

The ban on smoking in public places in England from July 1st last year has resulted in the biggest fall in smoking ever seen in England, according to a new study.

Figures revealed at the UK National Smoking Cessation Conference say that at least 400,000 people have quit smoking as a result of the ban.

The study interviewed more than 32,000 people in England over the nine months before and nine months after last year's smokefree law came into force.

The decline in smoking prevalence for the nine months pre-July was 1.6 per cent compared to 5.5 per cent in the nine months post July.

There was no difference by age, gender or social grade.

The study is the first in the world to examine in detail the impact on smoking rates solely from smokefree legislation without the influence of any other tobacco control measures.

Professor Robert West, Cancer Research UK's director of tobacco studies at the Health Behaviour Research Centre based at University College London, who carried out the study, said: "I never expected such a dramatic impact and of course there are no guarantees that smoking rates will not climb back up again.

"But if the Department of Health can keep up the momentum this has created, there is a realistic prospect of achieving a target of less than 15 per cent of the population smoking within the next ten years."

Jean King, Cancer Research UK's director of tobacco control, commented: "[The ban is] saving lives and we mustn't forget that half of all smokers die from tobacco related illness. We must do everything possible to continue this great public health success – we now need a national tobacco control plan for the next five years.

"The government consultation on the future of tobacco control runs from June until September. It provides an excellent opportunity to examine further steps we can take to reduce the devastating impact that tobacco has on the lives of many millions of people."