University of Bath academics praise plans for a "smoke-free generation"
Plans to phase out smoking were laid out in the King's speech
Academics at the University of Bath have described the Conservatives' plans to phase out smoking as "a significant step in the right direction."
In his speech ahead of parliament this morning, the King laid out plans to eventually ban tobacco by raising the legal smoking age by a year, every year.
It means children 14 or under will never be allowed to buy cigarettes.
It was in response to recommendations published as part of 'The Khan Review: making smoking obsolete', which Bath's Tobacco Control Research Group (TCRG) contributed to.
Phil Chamberlain is the deputy director of the TCRG.
"I think it could be a really good opportunity to create a smoke-free generation," he said, "smoking remains a leading cause of preventable illness and death and costs around £17 billion a year so it has the potential to have a huge impact across society.
"I think it's good to be ambitious on public health and it's good to be able to take all measures possible to protect young people from being addicted to cigarettes."
Although measures to eradicate smoking seem large, Phil believes it will soon become normal.
"Now, people would say smoking in a cinema or a train wouldn't feel right," he said, "having that change does require long-term effort and I think we've seen where people's habits do change and that becomes the norm."