Jump to full article: BAT, 2000-06-14
Intro: British American Tobacco believes today's report by the UK House of Commons Health Committee into the tobacco industry and the health risks of smoking is a thoughtful but inconsistent contribution to achieving progress on the issues surrounding tobacco.
On an initial reading, the report adopts some constructive proposals already in the public domain, including many already proposed to the Government by British American Tobacco, but contains many contradictions.
· The Committee says: "we have not found any explicit evidence to suggest that tobacco companies specifically and knowingly target children".
We welcome this finding, which reflects the reality of our marketing, and we are pleased that the Committee has adopted our suggestions for independent research into why teenagers smoke, ways for teenagers themselves to be involved in messages to their peers about adult products such as cigarettes, and more Government support for proof-of-age cards.
· However, in proposals to tackle under-age smoking, the Committee has stopped short of recommending several effective steps, such as raising the UK legal purchase age from 16 to 18.
We believe the UK legal age should be raised to 18
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