For years we’ve been told that 70 per cent of smokers want to quit.
I always had my doubts about that figure. Former Labour health secretary John Reid, who was once a 60-a-day man and represented one of Britain’s poorest constituencies where there was a high proportion of smokers, reckoned it was more like 30 per cent.
Either way, my argument has always been that there’s a huge difference between wanting to quit and supporting government intervention designed to force people to quit.
I base this on the fact that while I would like to lose weight, I am strongly opposed to regulations designed to force or even nudge me to lose weight.
And I reckon I’m not alone.
Anyway, back to that 70 per cent figure. Have you noticed that Public Health England has adjusted it to six in ten?
Are you one of the 6 in 10 smokers who want to quit? Well, there's never been a better time! Get your free Personal Quit Plan today to find the best way for you to quit this #Stoptober https://t.co/KsVJlkGoBs pic.twitter.com/N4xxggvWCi
— #Stoptober (@stoptober) September 25, 2018
It’s still a substantial figure but it’s interesting that the public health lobby is having to acknowledge the fact that as smoking rates fall the percentage of smokers who say they want to quit is also in decline.
My guess is that if and when the smoking rate falls below ten per cent the number of smokers who say they want to quit will be in a minority, even according to ‘official’ figures.
And if and when the UK hits that mythical ‘smoke free’ moment (a smoking rate of five per cent or less), only a very small minority of smokers will say they want to quit.
At that point what possible reason could there be for further anti-smoking measures? After all, many of today's policies (smoking bans, punitive taxation etc) are justified on the grounds that because most smokers 'want to quit' they need government 'help' to do so.
If however the majority of smokers do NOT want to stop, that argument becomes redundant.
But, don't worry, I'm sure they'll think of something else.