No Smoke?

The UK's Tobacco and Vaping Bill was intended to be a legacy policy. It would have annually added 1 year to the age at which folk could legally buy cigarettes. Cigarette smoking, although reduced in incidence, still causes ill-health and early deaths in the UK. Nicotine is a highly addictive drug and its current legality is largely a historical accident. The outgoing government dropped the bill. It's now revealed that the world's four big tobacco companies (UK's Imperial Brands; British American Tobacco; Japan Tobacco International and Phillip Morris International), used their wealth to counter the bill. Some threatened legal challenges. Others funded politicians and tame 'think tanks' to oppose the measure (https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/jun/29/rishi-sunak-smoking-ban-bill-backlash-tobacco-firms). Money talks! It certainly has a much louder voice than the health advocates. It's amazing how rich, self-interested companies can exploit 'nanny state' claims, to continue their damaging sales. The tobacco companies, of course, have form in this type of activity. There's nothing 'fair' about preserving their right to increase an addicted 'customer's' risk of an early death!