Menthol cigarettes and rolling tobacco
© Getty Images/Ocado
Six new laws aiming to crackdown on "harmful" and "dangerous" cigarettes killing more than 120,000 Brits a year are coming into force.


Comment: These numbers are estimates, not based on real data. They also take no account of the health damage from extraordinary levels of pollution from diesel vehicles, especially in places like London.


Under the new rules small packs of rolling tobacco and menthol cigarettes will be banned outright. Packs of 10 cigarettes will also no longer be available from shops.

It comes after smokers were hammered with a government price hike that saw the cost of a premium 20 deck soar to £10.26.

The government gave shops a year to adjust after rolling out the new laws in May last year. Now the changes will come into full force from May 20, 2017.

Here are the six laws that smokers need to be aware of.
  • Ten decks of cigarettes will not be available to buy in shops;
  • All packets of rolling tobacco under 30g will disappear from shops;
  • The cheapest packet of fags will cost £8.82 from May 21;
  • Menthol cigarettes will be outlawed completely by 2020;
  • Plain cigarette packets with graphic images will be introduced;
  • Some flavoured tobacco will be made illegal.
The changes come as part of the latest attempt to drastically cut down cancer deaths. Health officials hope the increase in the cost of smoking will deter young people from taking up the habit. But cigarette makers have slammed the tax hike.

Giles Roca, TMA director general, said: "We are disappointed that the Government has once again raised taxation on tobacco when tax on some of the cheapest cigarettes already accounts for 90 per cent of the price.

"Today's move will simply encourage people to buy from the black market. It takes business away from the legitimate trade whilst costing the taxpayer around £2.4billion in lost taxes in the last year alone."

Speaking to Daily Star Online yesterday, John O'Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Millions of pounds of taxpayers' money have gone into raising awareness around the health risks related to cigarettes.

"To slap more tax on them will hit the poorest hardest.

"Smokers already put more into the NHS in taxes than is spent on treating smoking related diseases, so this is just another way for the Chancellor to raise more cash at the expense of an already highly-taxed group."