Cigarette ban hideously illiberal and full of holes
4 October 2023
SUGGESTED
Lifestyle Economics
29 September 2023
Economics
Tax and Fiscal Policy
19 November 2024
Commenting on the government’s plan to introduce cigarette prohibition based on birth date, Christopher Snowdon, Head of Lifestyle Economics at the free market think tank, the Institute of Economic Affairs, said:
“Not only is this prohibitionist wheeze hideously illiberal and unconservative, it is full of holes. It will create a two tier society in which adults buy cigarettes informally from slightly older adults and will inflate the black market in general.
“It may well breach equalities legislation and will very likely be challenged in the courts. It will certainly create huge problems for retailers and may ultimately require a system of national ID cards.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Contact: media@iea.org.uk / 07763 365520
In 2021, Christopher was quoted in The Daily Express warning that New Zealand’s gradual cigarette prohibition would turbocharge the black market: https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1534118/cigarette-ban-uk-criminality-corruption-tobacco-tax
In 2011, Christopher wrote The Art of Suppression: Pleasure, Panic and Prohibition Since 1800, a book highlighting the failure of alcohol and drug prohibition: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Suppression-Pleasure-Panic-Prohibition/dp/0956226531
The mission of the Institute of Economic Affairs is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. The IEA is a registered educational charity and independent of all political parties.
“Not only is this prohibitionist wheeze hideously illiberal and unconservative, it is full of holes. It will create a two tier society in which adults buy cigarettes informally from slightly older adults and will inflate the black market in general.
“It may well breach equalities legislation and will very likely be challenged in the courts. It will certainly create huge problems for retailers and may ultimately require a system of national ID cards.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Contact: media@iea.org.uk / 07763 365520
In 2021, Christopher was quoted in The Daily Express warning that New Zealand’s gradual cigarette prohibition would turbocharge the black market: https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1534118/cigarette-ban-uk-criminality-corruption-tobacco-tax
In 2011, Christopher wrote The Art of Suppression: Pleasure, Panic and Prohibition Since 1800, a book highlighting the failure of alcohol and drug prohibition: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Suppression-Pleasure-Panic-Prohibition/dp/0956226531
The mission of the Institute of Economic Affairs is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. The IEA is a registered educational charity and independent of all political parties.
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