Stronger amti-smoking measures promised

Press, 20 February 1988, Page 4

Stronger amti-smoking measures promised

Increasing cigarette and tobacco sales will result in stronger measures to discourage smoking, the Health Department said yesterday.

But the department has acknowledged that more prominent health warnings on tobacco packets were unlikely to deter addicted adult smokers from the habit. Loose tobacco sales increased by 5 per cent during 1987. Cigarette sales rose by 1 per cent during the same period, according to the latest excise statistics. During the. 12 months ending in December, 1987 5357 million cigarettes were released from New Zealand tobacco factories into the domestic market,

a 2.4 per cent increase over the 5232 million during 1986. A 6.4 per cent increase was also recorded in sales of loose tobacco, “reflecting an increasing trend to cheaper roll your own cigarettes,” the department said. Cigarette consumption for each adult New Zealander fell 10 per cent in 1984-85 and 7 per cent between 1985-86. Tobacco consumption had been depressed by about 25 per cent during the 10 months following the Smoke Free Week and

the 54 per cent price rise in 1986. “However, with no such repeat measures in mid 1987, consumption increased again,” the Health Department’s principal medical officer, Dr Murray Laugesen, said yesterday. “Stronger health warnings on tobacco packets and advertisements will beging on April 1. Stronger warnings are necessary to alert young smokers to the dangers of starting to smoke. They are expected to have little effect on addicted adult

smokers.” The department will “control” the health consequences of smoking through a close study into various steps to discourage the habit through publicity, education, legislation and price policy. “Since 1950, at least 100,000 New Zealanders have died prematurely due to cigarette smoking — about 15 per cent of all deaths. More than 20,000 of these deaths were due to lung cancer,” Dr Laugesen said.