A FERNDOWN woman has been campaigning for the government to do more to help stub out smoking.

Aimee Vye, 24, has called on residents across the south west to email their MP and encourage them to vote in favour of a proposed law to raise the age of sale of tobacco.

New analysis by Cancer Research UK estimates up to 850,000 fewer cigarettes will be smoked in the South West each day by 2040, if the law is passed by MPs.

The law would raise the legal age of sale of tobacco products in England by one year every year, meaning anyone born on or after January 1, 2009 will never be able to legally buy cigarettes.

Aimee understands the devastating toll of tobacco after losing her mum Calli Byrne just three weeks after she was diagnosed with lung cancer.

Calli was well known across Dorset and Hampshire after founding the ‘Staffie and Stray Dog Rescue Charity’, saving around 800 dogs before she passed away.

“My mum had smoked when she was young but for the last fifteen years of her life she had become an avid non-smoker and then led a really healthy life, yet smoking all those years earlier was a strong factor in her becoming unwell and dying," Aimee said.

“Her death has left such a huge hole in our lives and in the community where she was so well known and so passionate about what she did. We miss her every day.

“Smoking is a deadly addiction and, like my mum, most people who smoke start when they are young and regret ever picking up a cigarette. I know she would back raising the age of sale of tobacco 100 per cent.

“The upcoming vote is a critical milestone on the road to ending the scourge of tobacco for good. Victory is almost in sight, but for the sake of our children’s and grandchildren’s future, we cannot leave it to chance. Now, we must do everything we can to make sure MPs get this over the line.”  

Between now and 2040 - around the time the first of these youngsters will turn 30 - the number of cigarettes that would go unsmoked would add up to billions. 

That’s if the Government’s best-case modelling of a 90 per cent reduction in rates of young people across England taking up smoking is achieved.

This could have a profound impact in the South West, where tobacco kills one person every hour and is responsible for around 4,500 cancer deaths each year.

Tobacco is the one legal consumer product that will kill most of its users if used as instructed by the manufacturer. It is linked to at least 15 different types of cancer, including two of the most common, lung and bowel cancer.  

While Cancer Research UK’s latest analysis focuses on cigarettes, all products that contain tobacco are harmful and increase cancer risk, so it has welcomed the Government’s announcement that the legislation will apply to all tobacco products - including heated tobacco devices. 

The charity’s south west spokesperson, Elisa Mitchell, said: “The biggest cause of cancer has no place in our future.

"As our analysis suggests, fast-forward to 2040, and the statistics could tell a very different story. Up to 850,000 fewer cigarettes smoked each day, would mean more people living longer, healthier lives, free from the fear of cancer. 

“Nothing would have a bigger impact on reducing the number of preventable deaths in the region than ending smoking.

"So, we must make sure our MPs are behind this critically important Age of Sale legislation. Together, we can make a smoke-free generation a reality.”

Evidence shows that smoking rates go down with government action and its thanks to this that smoke-filled pubs and workplaces, tobacco advertising and branded packs have been consigned to the past.  

Cancer Research UK says Age of Sale legislation is a vital next step on the journey to a smoke-free UK and would create a lasting legacy for its young people that the nation can be proud of.