Smoking in Denmark continues

Danish anti-smoking legislation introduced in 2007 has not caused a lot fewer to smoke, nor has it resulted in lower tobacco sales, according to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Health and Prevention. Statistics show that the number of smokers has dropped from 30 percent to 23 percent, but at the same time there is a caveat – the number of smokers had already begun to fall before the law came into effect. The National Institute for Public Health at the University of Southern Denmark says that the legislation was not designed to stop people smoking, but rather to reduce the number of people affected by passive smoking. “The law hasn’t gone wrong, despite the fact that cigarette sales are constant. The aim of the law was not to bring about a drop in cigarette sales,” says Senior Researcher Knud Juel. He adds that if Danes are to be forced to stop smoking, tobacco prices must be increased and the legal age for purchasing tobacco must be raised.