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Scottish targets needed to tackle problem of illicit tobacco in our communities

21 September 2010

ASH Scotland Chief Executive Sheila Duffy will today speak at a major summit on illicit tobacco and its impact on Scottish communities. The Summit, held in Perth, brings together a variety of different organisations with an interest in the issue including, health organisations, HMRC, police, trading standards, retailers and academics and a variety of speakers will present the current Scottish, UK, and international perspectives on illicit tobacco. Commenting Ms Duffy said:

"The selling of illicit tobacco, whether smuggled or counterfeit, is an issue for all of us. Illegal sales undermine public health messages that aim to encourage smokers to quit and prevent our children from starting.

"In the UK, the illicit market share [2007/08] is estimated to be 12% for cigarettes and 48% for hand rolling tobacco. As there are no separate figures published for Scotland, our share of the illicit tobacco market is unknown. This has to change so we are not working on 'guesstimates'. We need work done to establish the scale of the problem and we need Scottish targets that authorities can work towards. That is the only way we can properly target the problem of illicit tobacco in our communities.

"Many people think of buying illicit goods as a victimless crime. It is far from that. Tobacco is a product that kills and its highly addictive nature means it is very easy to become hooked on this lethal product. Cheap sources of illicit tobacco that are readily available to teenagers, are damaging to both health and social policies and can lead to them taking up smoking, continuing to smoke, and smoking increased quantities.

"People often don't realise that when they buy counterfeit cigarettes, they're supporting organised crime. The criminal gangs getting cheap fake or smuggled cigarettes onto our streets are the same gangs that are using their supply routes to get other illicit goods onto the black market including drugs, arms, and other illegal goods.

"These organised gangs also deliberately target low income communities where smoking prevalence is highest, and so is the rate of ill health caused by tobacco. Such criminal activity means our neighbourhoods become less safe as these gangs get a hold on our communities. I believe we all have a role to play in preventing unregulated traders selling illicit cigarettes, especially to our children, and making our communities safer.

"The UK Treasury is also deprived of almost £3 billion every year in taxation. This is money that should be spent on our public services not going into the pockets of the organised criminal gangs which are behind illicit tobacco.

"That is why today's summit is so important in raising awareness about the issues surrounding illicit tobacco. I am delighted that such a wide variety of organisations are able to get together for the first time at this event and discuss the issues and develop recommendations to improve the situation."