Photo Unsplash/Al Elmes Text Youssef el Khattabi
WUR is incredibly diverse, with hundreds of internationals working and studying here. In the Meanwhile In column, we ask one of them to comment on certain events in their home country. This time, we hear from Plant Sciences MSc student Jem Deakin (26) from England, who shares her views on England’s proposed smoking ban.
Deakin: ‘When I first heard about England’s proposed smoking ban for future generations, I was pretty surprised. The law would prevent anyone born in or after 2009 from legally buying cigarettes or tobacco products. A smoke-free generation will probably never happen in my opinion. In the long term though, the inconvenience of getting tobacco products would probably put more people off smoking. However, this kind of ban could also end up promoting black-market sales of cigarettes.
‘Vaping is quite popular in England; I’ve seen a lot of young teenagers with vapes. Smoking seems pretty similar to the Netherlands. I think vaping is a much bigger issue for the younger generation, and this policy doesn’t outline any strategies to counteract vaping.
‘This kind of policy feels quite radical for England. The government has not historically restricted a lot of personal freedoms for health reasons. Tax rises for smoking have had public support in the past, as there is awareness that diseases from smoking have a big impact on our publicly funded National Health Service.
‘I am a non-smoker, and everyone in my generation will remain unaffected by the smoking ban. Most of my friends who smoke want to quit though. All of the people I know who are current smokers started underage.’I am a non-smoker, and everyone in my generation will remain unaffected by the smoking ban. Most of my friends who smoke want to quit though. All of the people I know who are current smokers started underage.
‘In England, most people don’t really expect the policy to work. I do know that they attempted something similar in New Zealand, and it was scrapped pretty quickly. I think the high level of stress in England, caused by socio-economic problems, probably does quite a lot to promote smoking. If I had the opportunity to advise UK policymakers on this issue, I would suggest actually improving the state of the country. Then smoking might go down naturally.’