Illegal tobacco roadshow comes to Exeter

The campaign to tackle cheap illegal tobacco across the South West is coming to the Guildhall in Exeter on Saturday, 26 July.

Illegal tobacco is known to make it easier for children to start smoking, because it is sold at pocket money prices, meaning that young people could start smoking. Illegal tobacco is also known to make communities more attractive to criminals.

Devon County Council is working with Smokefree South West on a campaign to increase public awareness about illegal tobacco, persuade people to stop buying it and encourage more people to report it.

At the Guildhall Roadshow, staff from Smoke Free South West will be talking to the public to highlight the dangers of illegal tobacco.

Councillor Andrea Davis, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for health and wellbeing, said: “Smoking is a serious public health issue and cheap illegal tobacco just makes it even harder to keep our children away from harm. That is why our public health and trading standards teams are working together to help tackle the problem.

“This campaign will help people across the county identify cheap illegal tobacco so that together we can keep it out of our communities and protect our children.”

Selling illegal tobacco is a criminal offence. Anyone can report the selling of illegal tobacco by contacting Devon County Council’s Trading standards team on , report it anonymously online at www.stop-illegal-tobacco.co.uk or  call the charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. They cannot trace your call and will never ask for your name.

Councillor Roger Croad, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for Trading Standards, said:  “Illegal tobacco can sometimes be hard to spot, but if you come across anyone selling tobacco products, there could be some strong indications the product is illegal.

“If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is – illegal tobacco is often half the price of legal tobacco.  There could also be telltale signs such as a missing “UK Duty Paid” mark, no health warning, foreign language or spelling mistakes on the pack; or an unusual taste and smell.

“Illegal tobacco covers a whole range of ways the product could have entered the country, including smuggling, counterfeiting and goods being brought into the country on the premise of being for ‘personal use’, then resold.

“We are determined that this illegal trade will not only be detected in Devon, it will be dealt with in the most stringent way possible.”

More information on the campaign is available on the Smoke Free Southwest website.