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Scotland's biggest killer

A quarter of all deaths in Scotland are related to tobacco

Smoking-related deaths account for a quarter of all deaths in Scotland

  • In Scotland in 2008 there were 13,321 tobacco-attributable deaths
    (Male: 6097, Female: 7224). 23% of all male deaths, 25% of all female deaths. 90% of lung cancer deaths in men aged 35+, 89% of lung cancer deaths in women aged 35+
    Source: Boreham J. Male and female smoking-attributed deaths and total deaths, Scotland: 1995, 2008. Oxford: CTSU. 2010.
  • In Scotland in 2004 an estimated 13,473 deaths in Scotland were attributed to smoking, which equated to 24% of all deaths.
    Source: An Atlas of Tobacco Smoking in Scotland: a report presenting estimated smoking prevalence and smoking-attributable deaths within Scotland. NHS Health Scotland & ASH Scotland, 2007. Available from The Scottish Public Health Observatory

Cigarettes kill half of life-long regular smokers

Cigarettes kill half of lifelong regular smokers, and of those an average of 22 years life expectancy will be lost.

For more information see Beyond smoke-free: prevention

Poverty

‘We don’t smoke the shit, we just sell it. We reserve the right to smoke for the young, the poor, the black and the stupid.’ Company Executive, RJ Reynolds (makers of Camel cigarettes)

  • former US model Dave Goerlitz – who appeared in Winston cigarette advertising – recounting comments of a tobacco industry executive.
    Deposition of DAVID GOERLITZ, November 9, 1998, OKLAHOMA v. R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO CO.  http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/ufr07a00

Smoking impacts most heavily on the poorest in our society

Smoking rates are almost five times higher in the poorest areas than in the richest (44% against 9%)

Economics

Smoking costs Scotland nearly £1.1 billion every year

Smoking costs more to Scotland than the tax revenue it generates

Tobacco generates £940 million a year in taxes for Scotland but the combined costs of healthcare, productivity losses, litter and fires exceed this by at least £129 million

Spending money on tobacco control is good for the economy

Young people

'If younger adults turn away from smoking, the industry must decline, just as a population which does not give birth will eventually dwindle’ RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company

  • February 29, 1984 RJR report, "Young Adult Smokers: Strategies and Opportunities". Bates No. 501928462-8550

Nearly two thirds of smokers start before they are 18 - the tobacco industry knows and exploits this

The tobacco industry cynically targets young people calling them ‘replacement smokers’.

Every day roughly 40 young Scots become new smokers

Evidence suggests that plain packaging will reduce the appeal of cigarettes to young people

for more information see Beyond smoke-free: prevention

Second-hand smoke

Living with a smoker increases a non-smoker’s chances of developing lung cancer by 20 - 30%

At least 69 of the toxic chemicals in second-hand smoke cause cancer - International Agency for Cancer Research

Other people’s smoke is more than a nuisance - it’s a known human carcinogen

The ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces has already improved Scotland’s health, but more can still be done

For more information see Beyond smoke-free: reducing exposure to second-hand smoke

Children

In homes where both parents smoke, the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (cot death) is nearly four times as high as in homes where neither parent smokes

Children are more vulnerable to the effects of second-hand smoke

Children often don’t have a choice about being in a smoky environment

We need to encourage people to make homes and cars smoke-free

For more information see Beyond smoke-free: reducing exposure to second-hand smoke

Quitting smoking

69% of smokers – around 700,000 people - in Scotland want to quit

Nicotine is as addictive as heroin or cocaine

A 20-a-day smoker who quits improves their health and can save at least £2500 a year

for more information see Beyond smoke-free: cessation

Black market

10% of cigarettes smoked in the UK are illicit, climbing to nearly 50% for rolling tobacco

Criminals don't ask for proof of age

Those selling illegal tobacco target young people and those on low incomes

We need to work together with other agencies to reduce both supply and demand

Tobacco industry

‘Infectious diseases do not employ multinational public relations firms. There are no front groups to promote the spread of cholera. Mosquitoes have no lobbyists’ - World Health Organisation (WHO)

World leaders have recognised ‘a fundamental conflict’ between tobacco and public health

Big Tobacco continues to fight public health measures, often hiding behind more respectable voices

We need greater transparency of tobacco industry influence, especially regarding funding to business, retail and lobby groups

For more information see Beyond smoke-free: Government, society and industry

Global impact

One person dies every six seconds because of tobacco use

Tobacco deaths are a global epidemic with the death rate increasingly concentrated in poorer and developing countries

The tobacco industry has deliberately shifted its focus to developing countries, where there are fewer regulations and health systems are less able to cope

We need to take an international perspective on tobacco control, holding companies to account for their marketing activities overseas

Environment

Estimates suggest the land currently used to grow tobacco could feed 10 to 20 million people instead

The human and environmental costs of tobacco plantations are truly global

Tobacco production is responsible for 4% of annual global deforestation and raises major concerns over the treatment of plantation workers

For more information see Global Issues: Tobacco (online)

Through relations with Malawi and other countries we must support a move away from dependence on tobacco growing

For more information see Beyond smoke-free: Government, society and industry and Fair Trade Tobacco - a resource on tobacco industry agriculture exploitation