Jump to full article: BBC Online, 2008-10-06
Intro: Treating smokers costs the NHS in England £2.7bn a year, compared with £1.7bn a decade ago, a report claims.
Anti-smoking group Ash says the cost would have risen to over £3bn had action to curb smoking not seen numbers fall from 12 million to nine million.
The report's proposals to cut smoking include mandatory plain packaging. The government is consulting on next steps in tobacco control and regulation.
Lobby group Forest argues that smokers pay over £9bn a year in tobacco tax. . ..
The research also reveals that young people are between three and four times less likely to pick a plain pack as a branded one if they were trying smoking for the first time, supporting calls for plain packaging and countering industry claims that plain packs would be more attractive to young people.
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