Global cigarette maker stocks fell on Tuesday after doctors in the UK expressed their approval of a permanent cigarette sale ban to people born in 2000 and beyond.
British Medical Association (BMA) board of science deputy chair Ram Moorthy also asked to ban "vaping" or e-cigarettes in the same places where smoking is banned. He will present a motion to the annual representative meeting of the union calling for the prohibition.
"E-cigarettes could be a portal into nicotine addiction and we should look to ban them in public places," Dr. Moorthy said. "The concern is that we know among adolescents there is a huge awareness of e-cigarettes and we know that cigarette smokers pick it up before the age of 18."
However, some think the prohibition was "idiotic" and a crazy idea. West Midlands doctor Yohanna Takwoingi said there is nothing more attractive to young people as the "don't" command. Pro-smoking group Forest director Simon Clark also said that criminalizing adults for purchasing tobacco is impractical and illiberal. He cited an example, saying it could be legal for a person aged 36 years old to buy cigarettes in 2035 but a person younger by a year might commit an offense. He said that the BMA is only indulging in gesture politics for a cheap headline. Clark also said that prohibition won't work because it will only create a black market of cigarettes and make the next generations of adult smokers deal with illicit traders.
Recent studies said that around 30 million people in Europe have already tried e-cigarettes. In a separate study, 466 different e-cigarette brands we found available online through websites in the English language. There were also 7,764 different flavors found on the websites.
The world's largest cigarette company and maker of Marlboro and Lark among many other brands, Philip Morris International fell up to two percent and slightly rose in the afternoon after British Medical Association recommended the prohibition of cigarette sales to young people. The doctors' idea is to stop these young people from starting to smoke and eventually create a smoke free generation.
Reynolds American and Altria Group were also down one percent while maker of Lucky Strike, Pall Mall and other brands, British American Tobacco went down and recovered in the afternoon trading as well.
