For almost two decades, a scale has measured the efforts of countries in their fight against tobacco. The United Kingdom is at the top of this list, tied with Ireland on 82 points out of 100. In the British Isles they have applied almost all the measures that have been shown to be effective in reducing the number of smokers, and with great success: only 13% of Britons maintain the habit, practically half that in Spain. Now, they resort to the last bullet: banning smoking for an entire generation. In their case, those born from 2009 onwards will no longer be able to buy cigarettes, a measure that will be implemented in 2027, when those kids who are now 15 years old turn 18. Neither they nor those born later will be able, in theory, to buy cigarettes in their lives.
In practice, we will have to see how it develops. No country in the world has implemented a similar measure yet, beyond small initiatives, such as that of the city of Brookline, near Boston (United States). New Zealand was going to be the first, starting this year, but a change in Government disrupted the plans. So the United Kingdom will become a pioneer. The rule, promoted by the conservative Rishi Sunak, has majority social support and the backing of the Labor opposition, but more than 150 deputies from the prime minister's party – between abstentions and votes against – challenge it, arguing that it is It is an attack on freedom that discriminates between adults (those who are 18 years old today will be able to continue buying cigarettes without problems).
Spain is far from that debate. On the same scale mentioned above (whose last edition was published in 2022) was ranked 11th in Europe, with a score of 58 out of 100, behind the British, the Nordic countries, the Netherlands, France, Hungary, Romania and Belgium. The new roadmap that the Ministry of Health and the autonomous communities approved this April has the objective, precisely, of returning Spain to the top positions: it reached seventh place after approving the anti-tobacco regulation in 2010.
There are many pending measures before even considering a law as drastic as the one that the United Kingdom is going to approve. The neutral packaging of packets is the first that Health has implemented, something that has proven a reduction in consumption in the twenty countries already in force.
After this, Spain has a lot to advance – if compared to its surroundings – when it comes to taxes. They represent just over 79% of the final price, but there are countries, such as Denmark, where it exceeds 96%. The average price of a pack in Spain is, according to the Tax Foundation, 4.5 euros, slightly less than the European average (5.4), but much lower than in countries like Ireland (13.4) or France (10. 2). The next step that Health wants to take is an increase in rates, which will have to be agreed with the Ministry of Finance, which has the powers.
Legally equate new forms of smoking with conventional tobacco ―such as vapers or electronic cigarettes―, more media in campaigns and cessation are other pending duties before taking the step of generational prohibition. Experts in the fight against smoke consider it, however, an achievable and necessary goal. “In two or three years, Spain should be prepared to implement it,” says Esteve Fernández, head of the Tobacco Control Unit of the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO). In fact, a citizen initiative raised it in the European Parliament, but it was not approved. As socialist MEP Nicolás González Casares explains, they are waiting for the Commission to publish its proposal for the review of the Tobacco Products Directive, which has been stalled for a few years.
“The industry is always ahead, always looking for loopholes, and prohibition is in the end the way to prevent it from finding them,” says Rodrigo Córdoba, family doctor and member of the National Committee for the Prevention of Smoking. In the United Kingdom, the lobby cigar maker has tried at all costs to stop the new law: he tried, without success, to convince the Government to raise the legal age for smoking from 18 to 21 years, instead of opting for such a drastic measure as outright banning sales to following generations.
Various debates are now being opened, such as to what extent it will be useful. “I'm not at all sure that this is going to work,” says Roby (he prefers not to give his real name), a teenager from London about to turn 18 who has been smoking for more than two years. “The same traps we have used until now will continue to work, even if they pass this law.” The trick is as old as the vice itself: finding a friend who is already of age, or using someone in the gang with more adult physical features. “I can't buy cigarettes in supermarkets, but we already have several stores under control where they sell them to us without problems,” says the young man. In less than two years, however, the British Government will authorize the police to impose an on-the-spot fine of up to 120 euros on establishments that provide tobacco to minors.
Mónica Pérez Ríos, from the Tobacco Group of the Spanish Society of Epidemiology, explains that tobacco control policies “must work as a whole.” “They are packages of measures and for strategies tobacco end game [se suele emplear en inglés la estrategia de poner fin definitivo al tabaquismo], a series of conditions must be met, such as a very low prevalence of smoking, below 15%, and significant population support, as shown in the United Kingdom in the public consultation in which more than 60% agreed. In Spain it is not known, but previous laws, such as those of 2005 and 2010, had great support,” says the expert.
Another debate is that of adult freedom. The harshest response to this argument came in the United Kingdom from the hand of Chris Whitty, the chief director of Health in England, one of the most relevant and authoritative voices during the hard years of the pandemic: “People who begin to Smoking at a very young age sees your ability to choose disappear, because quitting the habit is extremely difficult. So, all those who proclaim themselves defenders of the freedom to choose should be against the idea of creating thousands of addicts who will end up dying or who will have many horrible years ahead of them.”
Moved to Spain, health law experts consulted by EL PAÍS doubt the constitutional fit of prohibiting smoking after a date of birth. Fernando Abellán, from Derecho Sanitario Asesores, believes that once people are adults, age “should not be a limiting factor for the exercise of certain rights.” With the exception of minors, for the rest, the rule should be, in his opinion, the same for everyone: “Age is part of marital status. “Here there would be discrimination based on age that would conflict with article 14 of the Spanish Constitution.”
Juan Francisco Pérez, vice president of the Association of Health Jurists and professor in Administrative Law, expresses himself in similar terms: “If someone understood that it violated the principle of equality, they could even present an appeal for protection to the Constitutional Court and I think it would have a long way to go.” . [La prohibición de fumar a partir de una edad] It is undoubtedly a novel and interesting proposal, but perhaps we would need a period of maturity to evaluate it.”
What about vaping?
The new British law does not include a ban on vaping, which in that country is used as a smoking cessation tool. In Spain, kids are starting younger and younger and those who vape are more likely to end up smoking. Arturo Ribes, president of the Union of Vaping Promoters and Entrepreneurs, believes that what should be done is prohibit the sale of vaping in non-specialized stores: “In 2019 there was an incidence of minors who vaped less than 1%. It was sold exclusively in specialized stores and there was no disposable electronic cigarette. In 2021, disposable electronic cigarettes entered and in 2022 it rose 3.6%. If we analyze what happened, it is that the disposable had become popular, and we found that it was sold everywhere.”
Mahi works the morning shift behind the front counter of a well-known supermarket in west London. Behind her, a bunch of locked drawers that store packs of cigarettes of different brands. “We require the presentation of some identification document that proves that buyers are over 18 years old,” she explains.
“And for that other thing?” asks the correspondent, pointing to several shelves full of electronic cigarettes and vaping devices. Unlike conventional tobacco, this new modality – the most popular among British teenagers – is openly shown to consumers. “Also. They must give an image of being over 18 years old to buy them,” he answers. The subconscious has made you admit that the controls are not so strict with both products. Although its defenders promote it as a tool to quit smoking, the truth is that it is, increasingly, the gateway to addiction for the youngest people.
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