Get Involved - Campaign Letters

What are we calling for and why? Health Bill 2009 Health Bill 2009 Briefs Quick Campaign Guide Write to your MP Campaign Letters

Template Letters

EDM letter
Letter from a member of the public
Detailed letter

EDM letter

Dear [MP]

I am writing to urge you to support the tobacco control measures in the Health Bill and to sign the related EDMs:

• Point of Sale Display of Tobacco Products EDM 189 [Leave the links in if you are sending by email]
• Plain Packaging of Tobacco Products EDM 554
• Sale of Tobacco from Vending Machines EDM 768

[Insert paragraph explaining who you are and some local information such as prevalence, quit rates etc. You may not be able to write on behalf of your organisation however you can write in a private capacity, mentioning your role in tobacco control and how it gives you a unique perspective on what this legislation could achieve.

If you are a stop smoking service manager and struggling to meet your targets then this legislation could help.

If you work with children who smoke, talk about how they are influenced by advertising.]

Tobacco display units in shops are a form of advertising which appeal most directly to children and young people. The fact that these units are usually placed near the confectionary sections give a false impression to young people that cigarettes are not dangerous. Tobacco packaging is also a form of advertising aimed at young people which turns a cigarette packet into an accessory. The tobacco industry must be prevented from marketing it's products to children and young people.

There is strong evidence that cigarette vending machines are being accessed by young people as a means of evading the law which prohibits the sale of tobacco to people under 18. Other age restricted products such as knives, solvents and alcohol are not available from vending machines. Tobacco should only be available for sale in places where a purchaser's age can be verified.

These measures will help to ensure we protect the next generation from the harm caused by tobacco by removing the last remaining opportunities for the tobacco industry to market to our children.

I strongly urge you to vote in favour of the tobacco control measures in the Health Bill. I would be keen to meet with you and discuss further why these issues are important to [constituency]

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Letter from a member of the public

This is just an example of the type of letter which could be sent. Please adapt it to include your own experiences and opinion.

Dear [MP]

As your constituent I am writing to ask you to support the new laws to end the sale of tobacco from vending machines and get rid of the display of tobacco in shops and to support amendments to ensure that no tobacco packs have branding on them.

It is too easy for children to be able to buy tobacco without challenge from a machine and the only way to make sure that this does not happen is to ban it outright.

The display of tobacco in supermarkets and local shops is also unacceptable. Our children and those trying to quit should not have to be bombarded with light and colour shows designed to dazzle and appeal. Tobacco is lethal and it should not be on public display.

But what about the cigarette pack itself? When the pack is bought it is carried around and displayed by hundreds of thousands of smokers across the country. Every day their cigarettes come out of their pocket and advertise their brand, saying 20 times a day: "this is my brand, this is what I smoke".

I am keen to know what your views are on these issues and how your party is going to act to protect children from smoking.

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Detailed letter to be adapted

Dear

Tobacco Control Measures in the Health Bill 2009

I am writing to urge you to support the clauses in the Health Bill to reduce youth smoking by further regulating the sale and display of tobacco products. This legislation is a crucial element of an effective tobacco control strategy which will help protect children and reduce health inequalities. The measures in the bill are to prohibit the display of tobacco at the point of sale and restrict access to vending machines by young people. We would also support further measures to ban the sale of tobacco from vending machines now and introduce plain packaging for all tobacco products.

[Paragraph about who you are, smoking among adults and children in your area (e.g. prevalence, quit attempts versus quit targets) and why the PCT/LA/other considers it important (e.g. health inequalities, deaths and illness levels)]

[Points which could be included in the remainder of the letter are...]

• The DH consulted on the measures as part of their consultation on a future tobacco control strategy which will be published later this year.
• The three measures consulted on received overwhelming public support of nearly 90,000 of the 100,000 responses.

Point of Sale Displays

• There is strong evidence to show that tobacco advertising and promotion encourage children to smoke, which was the justification for the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act (TAPA) 2002.
• Since this Act was passed, cigarette packaging has become the most prevalent remaining form of advertising for tobacco products, and the tobacco industry has spent large amounts of money on point of sale displays.
• Although the tobacco lobby and their front organisations have argued that the ban in Iceland had no effect the data they use is inaccurate. The Public Health Institute of Iceland's survey shows a significant fall in youth smoking during the period the ban was introduced.
• Retail display also encourages 'impulse buying' so undermines smokers attempts to quit. (1)
• The tobacco industry has also claimed that removing point of sale displays would place unacceptable costs on small retailers. However, there is strong evidence from other countries that the cost will be low.

Sale from Vending Machines

• Ending the sale of cigarettes from vending machines would be an important measure to restrict underage sales of cigarettes and tobacco products.
• The DH consultation document noted that 17% of smokers aged 11 to 15 reported that vending machines were a usual source of the cigarettes they smoked.
• The total share of UK tobacco sales from vending machines is less than 1%.
• A survey by the local government regulatory body LACORS, reporting on test purchases carried out by trading standards officers, showed a rise in under age sales in the six months from October 2007 to March 2008.
• In countries where restrictions have been used young people have

Plain Packaging

• Packaging is the most ubiquitous form of tobacco advertising. Since the introduction of the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act, packaging has become increasingly sophisticated and appealing with careful use of imagery, colours and design.
• Each smoker displays their brand every time they take their pack out to smoke.
• Since 2002, the number of cigarette brand variants has more than doubled as the tobacco companies increasingly use the pack itself as a promotional tool. (2)
• Plain packaging, with the name of the product in a standard font on a standard background, would remove the major remaining method by which the tobacco industry can promote its lethal products to young people.

Yours sincerely

References:
(1) Wakefield M. The effect of retail cigarette pack displays on impulse purchase. Addiction. Nov 2007 http://www.addictionjournal.org/viewpressrelease.asp?pr=69
(2) Pricechecker 1998, 2003, Safeway and Bookers price list

 

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