Latest news with #LungFoundation
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Huge call to ban cigarettes in Coles and Woolworths - what you need to know
Anthony Albanese faces a huge call to ban cigarettes from supermarkets in the latest move to clamp down on smoking. Lung Foundation Australia CEO Mark Brooke is calling on the government to bring in new legislation as he branded supermarkets 'irresponsible' for selling cigarettes. 'We need everyone from government to big corporations to put the lung health of Australians ahead of profits from a product that kills 66 Australians daily,' he said. 'Previous news reports have highlighted Coles estimates their cigarette sales each year is enough to kill more than 1,600 Australians and cause tobacco-related medical costs of more than $300 million a year.' It follows a new licensing scheme which is set to take effect across New South Wales from July 1. Aussies may soon no longer be able to buy cigarettes during their weekly grocery shops as restrictions on smoking increase. The new scheme requires all tobacco retailers and wholesalers to have a license to sell tobacco and non-tobacco smoking products in the state. In NSW it is also illegal for any retailers other than a pharmacy to sell any type of vaping good, regardless of its nicotine content. Lung Foundation Australia has urged the federal government to follow suit and introduce legislation that would cover the entire country. 'The federal government can support broader efforts by investigating the health and economic impacts of a generational phase out of tobacco products,' Lung Foundation Australia said. more to come
ABC News
3 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Calls for tobacco sales ban at supermarkets
The Lung Foundation of Australia wants to see an outright ban on the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products in major supermarkets, with some health experts saying it should also be extended to convenience stores.
West Australian
3 days ago
- Health
- West Australian
Lung foundation calls for supermarkets to be banned from selling tobacco
Supermarkets should be banned from selling cigarettes, the Lung Foundation of Australia says. The foundation has floated the ban as a means to stop smokers being tempted to buy a pack or a pouch alongside their groceries. 'We need everyone from government to big corporations to put the lung health of Australians ahead of profits from a product that kills 66 Australians daily,' foundation chief executive Mark Brooke said. 'Previous news reports have highlighted Coles estimates their cigarette sales each year is enough to kill more than 1600 Australians and cause tobacco-related medical costs of more than $300m a year.' Former smoker Sarah Waters has joined the campaign for cigarettes to be banned from supermarkets. Ms Waters started smoking aged 13, and continued for nearly 30 years. 'It isn't easy to quit but not being able to buy cigarettes so easily would have made a big difference. When I started smoking there was no age limits in place, and they were marketed to young people as being cool.' Prince Charles Hospital thoracic physician Henry Marshall said nicotine is as addictive as heroin. 'The difference is you can't buy heroin with your weekly shopping.' 'It is hard to fight an addiction while also being able to buy tobacco products so easily.' Professor Marshall has thrown his voice behind the lung foundation's calls for a ban. 'People who smoke deserve more help from health professionals and the government,' he said. 'I would like to see people demand action from the multinational tobacco companies who have known smoking causes lung cancer since before 1954 and continued to sell products to make profit off Australians. It is time we said, 'enough is enough'.' The Lung Foundation is calling for the government to ban supermarkets from selling tobacco products. In response, Coles said in a statement it is providing smokers with a legal way to obtain tobacco. 'Coles complies with all Commonwealth, State and Territory laws aimed at minimising the negative health effects of tobacco use, however we recognise the need to provide choice to those customers who wish to purchase these products legally,' a spokesperson told NewsWire. Woolworths has been approached for comment. Earlier this year, IGA reported it had lost $150m of revenue over three years, as tobacco black market sales skyrocketed across the country. Australians have comprehensively turned to the black market for cigarettes and tobacco, as the tax on legal smokes becomes unaffordable. The taxes the federal government takes from tobacco have plummeted from $16.3bn five years ago, to $7.4bn this year. Smoking rates have fallen from 20 per cent of the population in 2001, to about 8 per cent now, the latest government data shows.
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Lung foundation calls for supermarkets to be banned from selling tobacco
Supermarkets should be banned from selling cigarettes, the Lung Foundation of Australia says. The foundation has floated the ban as a means to stop smokers being tempted to buy a pack or a pouch alongside their groceries. 'We need everyone from government to big corporations to put the lung health of Australians ahead of profits from a product that kills 66 Australians daily,' foundation chief executive Mark Brooke said. 'Previous news reports have highlighted Coles estimates their cigarette sales each year is enough to kill more than 1600 Australians and cause tobacco-related medical costs of more than $300m a year.' Former smoker Sarah Waters has joined the campaign for cigarettes to be banned from supermarkets. Ms Waters started smoking aged 13, and continued for nearly 30 years. 'It isn't easy to quit but not being able to buy cigarettes so easily would have made a big difference. When I started smoking there was no age limits in place, and they were marketed to young people as being cool.' Prince Charles Hospital thoracic physician Henry Marshall said nicotine is as addictive as heroin. 'The difference is you can't buy heroin with your weekly shopping.' 'It is hard to fight an addiction while also being able to buy tobacco products so easily.' Professor Marshall has thrown his voice behind the lung foundation's calls for a ban. 'People who smoke deserve more help from health professionals and the government,' he said. 'I would like to see people demand action from the multinational tobacco companies who have known smoking causes lung cancer since before 1954 and continued to sell products to make profit off Australians. It is time we said, 'enough is enough'.' The Lung Foundation is calling for the government to ban supermarkets from selling tobacco products. In response, Coles said in a statement it is providing smokers with a legal way to obtain tobacco. 'Coles complies with all Commonwealth, State and Territory laws aimed at minimising the negative health effects of tobacco use, however we recognise the need to provide choice to those customers who wish to purchase these products legally,' a spokesperson told NewsWire. Woolworths has been approached for comment. Earlier this year, IGA reported it had lost $150m of revenue over three years, as tobacco black market sales skyrocketed across the country. Australians have comprehensively turned to the black market for cigarettes and tobacco, as the tax on legal smokes becomes unaffordable. The taxes the federal government takes from tobacco have plummeted from $16.3bn five years ago, to $7.4bn this year. Smoking rates have fallen from 20 per cent of the population in 2001, to about 8 per cent now, the latest government data shows.
ABC News
3 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Lung Foundation Australia calls for tobacco sales ban at major supermarkets
Sarah Waters tried her first cigarette at 11-years-old, pinched from her dad's packet. By 13, she was smoking regularly, and within a few months, she was addicted. "When I started smoking, there was no information about the dangers," she said. "It was actually advertised in teenage magazines … all the movie stars, models had them. It was cool, it was prestigious." Ms Waters said she tried everything, but when cigarettes were so easy to get a hold of — in supermarkets, corner stores, service stations and at tobacconists — the temptation was hard to deny. It's this reason why the Lung Foundation is calling for a crackdown. The foundation wants the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products banned from major supermarkets. Lung Foundation Australia chief executive Mark Brooke said accessibility is one of the major reasons people continue to smoke. "By removing as many of those points of sale or limiting those points of sale, is a really important part of the solution. It's not the solution, but it's an important part of the solution," Mr Brooke said. Ms Waters said she backed any measure that could deter people from continuing to smoke or take it up. "If you are at the shops and they are there you can just say, 'It will be my last packet,'" she said. "If it is not there then I think it would be the extra barrier to help someone quit." Mr Brooke said smoking rates nationwide have decreased dramatically — only about 10 per cent of the population now smokes. But he said the time to clamp down was now, with an explosion in the number of venues selling cigarettes and tobacco products. "Some of those are operating illegally, but some of those also have licenses," he said. Researchers said the fear that restricting access to cigarettes could feed the booming illegal tobacco trade in Australia was "real" but would likely only affect those who were already suffering from addiction. "As a prevention tactic, I think it's a fantastic idea," Griffith University marketing research fellow James Durl said. In Queensland this month, health authorities seized illegal cigarettes and vapes with an estimated street value of about $20.8 million, in what it's calling its biggest raids in history. "It's only going to affect those people who were smoking for starters," Dr Durl said. "For those people who are smoking, and are desperately looking for a cigarette, and they have to go to a different place, I think as long as it's still legal and you're able to get it from say, a tobacconist specifically, [people won't necessarily turn to illegal operators]." Dr Durl said restricting access is just a small step in the decades-long fight to stamp out tobacco use. "This isn't talking about a ban — they're not becoming illegal," he said. "[This idea is] just trying to put a delay, a buffer, between the urge to have a smoke and the actual purchasing of a smoke." Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said the government passed laws in 2023 to "reignite the fight" against tobacco. "Under the Tobacco Act, a range of new graphic health warnings, health promotion inserts, and on-product health messages have been developed. "They have been informed by research and improved during rounds of market testing with smokers, to ensure they are effective, have impact and maximise engagement." Mr Butler did not comment on whether his government would support banning major supermarkets from selling cigarettes In a statement, Coles said it complied with all legislation around minimising the health impacts of tobacco use, "however we recognise the need to provide choice to those customers who wish to purchase these products legally". Woolworths was contacted for comment but did not reply by deadline. After 27 years of attempts, Sarah Waters finally found her reason to quit. Like many, it was her health that was the final straw. "I couldn't enjoy life, like every time I laughed, I'd go into a coughing fit. It became anti-social, and it got really expensive as well," she said. It's been 11 years since her last cigarette. Now she spends the money she saves on them on overseas holidays. Her advice to those wanting to quit is not to give up. "I tried patches, I tried gum, I tried hypnosis, I tried several different types of medication, I tried cold turkey, I tried fad exercise diets, and I finally found the thing that worked for me which was a medication prescribed from the doctor," Ms Waters said.
