New research suggests that ‘Twice as many people in England quit smoking during lockdown than before the coronavirus emerged.’
Full story here.
I’ve no idea whether this is true and, to be clear, I’ve no problem with smokers quitting if it’s their choice based on accurate information about the risks of smoking.
If smokers are giving up because of Covid-inspired scaremongering that’s a different matter, but it’s still their choice, I suppose.
If I was a smoker I’d read the evidence about smoking and Covid-19 - the good and the bad - and decide for myself. I wouldn’t change my behaviour based on a few tobacco control inspired headlines.
I also recognise that many smokers may face other challenges or restrictions during the coronavirus (including loss of income) so it’s not just about health.
Meanwhile ASH continue to insist that a million people have quit smoking during the pandemic.
It’s impossible to know, at this stage, whether they are right. We will probably have to wait until next summer when the Office for National Statistics publish the latest figures.
(According to the last estimate, published in July, ‘In the UK, in 2019, 14.1% of people aged 18 years and above smoked cigarettes, which equates to around 6.9 million people in the population.’)
In the meantime I am posting the tweet below so I can refer back to it. If ASH is correct, I’ll be the first to tip my hat to their extraordinarily accurate research (and ability with a calculator).
Why do I have a sneaking suspicion, though, that the ONS figures for 2020 will present a somewhat different picture?
PS. A thought just occurred to me.
If it is true that twice as many smokers quit during lockdown compared to before lockdown, tobacco control may have stumbled upon a way to meet its target of making England ‘smoke-free’ by 2030.
All the Government has to do is confine smokers to their own homes and prohibit any mixing with other households for the next ten years.
Home visits will be allowed (face masks worn at all times by both parties) but strictly no smoking while anyone else is in the house or on the premises.
That should do it.
