Health Bill [HL]

I want to argue a very different case, which has little to do with children and a lot more to do with adults and vending machines. I had my last cigarette 24 hours before I went into Saint Bartholomew's Hospital in London with a tumour on the lung in 1996. I lost half my lung capacity, which meant that three nodes were lost during the course of the operation. I mention that because I spent four years desperately trying to stop, lying to friends, ever denying that I was smoking, desperate to buy cigarettes in small quantities, which I could not. An amendment may turn up on Report that deals with the ability to buy cigarettes in small quantities, to which I would be sympathetic because of my problem: whenever I wanted to buy any cigarettes, I had to buy 10. I think that we should make it as difficult as possible for people to buy cigarettes, especially those people who are trying to stop. I remember going out at midnight or one o’clock in the morning, getting in my car and driving around the town looking for any source of cigarettes that I could purchase to deal with my problem—the problem of desperately trying to stop. I am not alone. I have talked to many people over the years who have tried to stop. We all know people who are trying to stop. We buy patches; we buy all kinds of things. The availability of cigarettes in machines makes it very difficult for those who want to stop, because invariably they find out where they are. I would firmly support any amendment to restrict availability to people who are in the position I was in at that time.