Health Bill [HL]

In response to that point, I would simply suggest that I am not so confident about that when a group of young kids goes into a shop. I am impressed by the point-of-sale evidence. The fact is that it has taken over as the main marketing tool for cigarettes. If it had no effect on demand, would tobacco companies really be so desperate for the Government not to introduce this change? That seems to be the best evidence that this is a good measure and will reduce the demand for cigarettes. I find the absolute horror on the part of the tobacco companies that this might happen quite impressive. There is now research to show that point-of-sale marketing influences young people. It is horrifying that 46 per cent of UK teens are aware of tobacco marketing at point of sale, which surely must influence what they are doing. I do not believe that it does not: I believe that it does. Point-of-sale marketing also undermines efforts to quit, which I believe is a major issue. I know that that is not so much about the very young people. But we know about the terrific addictive qualities of tobacco. I have never smoked, but I have watched others who have. We all have friends and relatives who have tried desperately over the years to give up cigarettes and we do not want to make that more difficult, which is what these displays do. In my view, it is illogical to ban advertising and then to do nothing about point-of-sale marketing when they are exactly the same thing and aim to do exactly the same thing. There is logic here. I shall end on a personal note. One of my daughters was enticed into smoking tobacco in her mid-teens. It took her 10 years to give up the habit. She tried and tried. In the end she cracked it. She is now a doctor and was horrified to find herself on a surgical ward treating a ward full of people, including amputees, almost every one of whom was there because they had been a smoker. If most tobacconists were taken on to those wards and saw those amputees and others dying, I believe that they would support Clause 19.