Research revealed by the charity Cancer Research has indicated that 70% of adults support proposed new measures concerning the sales of cigarettes. 70% said that they backed plans to make shops keep cigarettes out of sight to protect children while 76% agreed that cigarette machines should be made illegal.
2000 people across the UK were questioned for the YouGov poll. Nearly 80% of those who responded said that they believed the smoking ban was a good thing. Non-smokers and those who had never tried cigarettes were strongly most in favour of the proposals, while those who smoked were least likely to be supportive. Men were also less likely to give a favourable response than women.
Professor Robert West, the director of tobacco studies at Cancer Research UK, said that though the ban had assisted smokers in their attempts to quit, there needed to be ‘radical’ new action to capitalise on this success.
The smoking ban came into force across the UK in 2007, after a successful scheme in Scotland. There was a rapid decrease in the number of smokers, with rates falling by 800,000. However it is still estimated that every day, 450 under-18s start smoking in Britain.
The charity’s head of tobacco control Elspeth Lee added that the poll results showed there was widespread support for anti-smoking measures, but called for priority to be given to strategies to prevent the next generation also becoming addicted to cigarettes.