430 young people a month taking up lethal tobacco smoking in the North East
430 young people are taking up smoking lethal tobacco every month in the North East, shocking new figures published today have revealed – over 100 a week.
The study published in Nicotine and Tobacco Research by Dr Sarah Jackson, Dr Harry Tattan-Birch and colleagues from UCL, Imperial and Action on Smoking and Health shows around 105 700 young people aged 18-25 start smoking tobacco regularly each year in England – 5200 young people in the North East. It also shows that the chances of starting to smoke keep increasing until the age of 25.
It comes as the Government has been pressed on plans to create a “Smokefree Generation” free of the death and disease of tobacco by raising the age of sale by a year every year.
Surveys in the North East have found over 77% of North East smokers say they regret ever starting and 46% really want to be able to quit.
Ailsa Rutter OBE, Director of Fresh and Balance, said: “Tobacco smoking is one of the biggest causes of disease, disability and death. No-one who starts smoking ever means to smoke for life, but 2 out of every 3 smokers who do not manage to quit will die from their smoking.
“Most people who start smoking start as children or young people. They under-estimate the risks of disease, never expecting it to become an expensive and lethal addiction.
“Most smokers in the North East want to stop and most would never risk starting to smoke or trying a cigarette if they had the choice again. The risks of smoking are also worse for people who started young.
“This is a shocking reminder of the scale of young people starting to smoke in our local communities, and a renewed call on the Government not to delay creating a smokefree generation a moment longer. While we are right to restrict young people’s access to vapes, tobacco is still the bigger threat they face to their health, finances and quality of life.”
Smoking survivors and campaigners from the North East were in Parliament earlier this month to call on the new Government to commit to creating a smokefree generation without delay. It comes more than a year since the previous Government announced plans to raise the age of sale for tobacco. The event was held by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health in Parliament.
One of the attendees was Cathy Hunt, 58, a mum of four from County Durham. She was diagnosed with lung cancer and had half a lung removed in 2015 just two days before her 50th birthday. She underwent surgery again in 2022 when the cancer returned, and in June 2023 had a kidney removed due to cancer.
She said: “I started smoking when I was only 11 years old. Obviously at the age of 11 I was not aware when I took that first draw of a cigarette how addictive and harmful smoking is.
“Soon, before you know it you are addicted and time has flown. Many times, over the decades I wished I had never started and I tried to stop many times.
“At the age of 49 – just days before my 50th birthday – my world was turned upside down. I was given the news I had lung cancer. Telling your children, you have cancer from smoking is the worst conversation a person can ever have, watching the fear and uncertainty wash over them and knowing you have changed their world forever.
“I am begging the Government and MPs to commit to a smokefree generation and raise the age of sale. Too many people are becoming ill and dying from smoking. We now have a chance to stop the start.”
There is strong North East support to create a smokefree generation with:
- 73% of North East adults supporting plans to raise the age of sale by a year each year.
- 78% of North East adults support ending smoking with a target of fewer than 5% smoking by 2030
(YouGov)
Over 50 organisations from the North East submitted responses in a major consultation supporting measures to create a Smokefree Generation – from fire and rescue, local authorities and NHS Trusts to the Association of Directors of Public Health North East and the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board.
The North East has a unique declaration for a smokefree future with a clear vision: “A smokefree future, free of the death and disease from tobacco, is needed, wanted and workable. This would improve the health and wealth of our region’s most disadvantaged communities more than any other measure.