As Wales marks No Smoking Day 2020, Welsh Government has pledged to crack down on the country’s illegal tobacco trade by appointing Wales’ first specialist dedicated to tackling the problem.
The move has been prompted by ASH Wales’ figures showing that 15% of all tobacco sold in Wales is illegal – among the highest proportion in the UK – with social media platforms proving a lucrative way to sell illegal cigarettes, and increasingly high-tech concealment devices being used to hide the goods. Currently in Wales 17% of the adult population smoke.
Welsh Government have now committed to implementing a Wales-wide Illegal Tobacco Programme aimed at gathering intelligence, highlighting the impact of illegal tobacco on public health and introducing tougher penalties for those responsible.
Frank Atherton, Chief Medical Officer for Wales, said:
“Smoking remains one of the biggest causes of premature death and ill health in Wales. The availability of illegal tobacco in our communities undermines our ongoing work to reduce the harm caused by tobacco smoking. This new post will work with stakeholders in Wales to tackle the supply and use of illegal tobacco.”
To support the programme ASH Wales will be holding an illegal tobacco roadshow in Wrexham town centre on No Smoking Day (March 11th) with Trading Standards Officers and sniffer dog teams on hand to gather intelligence and give demonstrations.
Suzanne Cass, CEO of ASH Wales, added: “We very much welcome the new appointment of an illegal tobacco specialist to crack down on the criminals making a mockery of efforts to reduce smoking prevalence in Wales.
“Illegal tobacco is widely available from shops and homes across Wales, presenting a major threat to public health and making cigarettes too easy to reach for young smokers. ASH Wales and enforcement agencies have long campaigned for robust action to tackle illegal tobacco.”
The easy availability of cigarettes sold at pocket money prices in Wales means even children can afford to buy them, undermining efforts to address youth smoking rates and leading to health inequalities in our most deprived communities.
Wrexham Assembly Member and Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths said: “In addition to being seriously harmful to your health, illegal tobacco has strong links to low-level and large-scale organised crime. Children and young people are often targeted, and it can have a damaging effect on some of our poorer communities in particular.
“It is extremely challenging for the authorities to counteract but the more people are aware of the risks associated with buying and selling illegal tobacco, the greater chance it becomes less socially acceptable.”
Roger Mapleson is Trading Standards and Licensing Lead at Wrexham County Borough Council. He said one of his team’s biggest concerns is the availability of cheap illegal tobacco to young people, with smoking rates among 15 to 16-year-olds currently at 9% in Wales: “I doubt there is a school in Wales that hasn’t got a supply of illegal tobacco close to it,” he said.
Describing some of the challenges his team face, he added: “Much of the intelligence we get relates to illegal tobacco being sold from retail outlets. And these people have moved on to using increasingly sophisticated concealment methods.
“Considerable amounts of money have been spent on concealments like false tiles in the wall or lifts that pop up out of the floor triggered by an electric switch. There has also been a move towards keeping the bulk of stock off site in various remote locations and regularly restocking.
“Social media transactions are a whole other issue. We’re aware that it is being advertised on the likes of Facebook and that it’s starting to move off that platform and onto other social media platforms that are even harder to track.”
Collin Singer is CEO of Wagtail, which provides tobacco detection sniffer dogs to Trading Standards teams. He said: “Illegal tobacco is big business, particularly in North and South Wales.
“We’ve come across electronic concealment devices hidden under the floor, false walls operated by electromagnets and chutes behind the counters that get filled up from upstairs each time somebody wants a packet of cigarettes.”
According to ASH Wales, 45% of smokers in Wales have been offered illegal tobacco with £4 the average price paid for a pack of 20 illegal cigarettes.
