New Survey Shows 54 Percent of Brits Support Banning Cigarettes in Favour of Vaping

New survey shows that 54 percent of Britons support banning cigarettes in favour of vaping to help UK go smoke-free.

Most Brits support a national cigarette ban which would encourage smokers to switch to vaping instead, according to a new poll.

The survey, commissioned by the Express newspaper, revealed that 54 percent support an outright smoking ban.

It showed that across all age groups and economic categories, more than half wanted smoking outlawed.

The anti-cigarette sentiment was higher amongst women with 59 percent happy to see a rapid demise for cigarettes.

The findings came as a major government review into tobacco control policy is expected to be published shortly.

It is believed that anti-smoking tzar Javed Khan will call for the UK smoking age to be raised from 18 to 21 to help ensure the government can meet its 2030 smoke-free ambitions.

Khan, the former Chief Executive of Barnardo’s, is also expected to support imposing new ‘polluter pays’ taxes on cigarette manufacturers and would like to see the NHS to further promote vaping as a cigarette alternative.

The NHS has already embraced a number of initiatives to encourage smokers to switch to vaping but it is thought that more could be done.

Many smokers are reluctant to quit because they know so little about vaping and wrongly fear that it could be more harmful than cigarettes.

Vape advocates say it is vital that government does more to inform smokers that vaping is at least 95 percent less harmful than smoking.

It has been estimated that if the government fails to ramp up its tobacco control plans, it will miss its smoke-free targets by seven years.

When the Khan review is published, a consultation process would follow, before the government decides on any new policy changes.