SMOKERS could be banned from lighting up if they live in social housing under a radical new crackdown on cigarettes.
All Brits could ultimately be prohibited from buying tobacco if the Government acts on recommendations to raise the age limit every year until no one is old enough.
But Dr Javed Khan, who authored the astonishing document, believes those living in council-owned properties should be among the first to stub out.
His bizarre report – which urges officials to paint cigs green and ban films showing smoking before the watershed – suggests anyone in social housing should be pressured to quit.
"In the USA, smoking is prohibited in all social housing," he wrote.
"I am not proposing that for now."
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However, he said "specific actions" must be taken in council properties to stop smokers.
"A significant proportion of new tenancies and new developments – 70 per cent – should be smoke-free to reflect the 70 per cent of people in social housing that do not smoke," he said.
"Student housing, sheltered housing and hostels for homeless people, and accommodation for people transitioning from prison or inpatient mental health services, should also do the same."
His report was released to general astonishment this morning after he advocated making it impossible for Brits to smoke in the years ahead.
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"I recommend increasing the age of sale from 18, by one year, every year, until no one can buy a tobacco product in this country," he said.
Admitting Brits will see it as the move of a "nanny state", he insisted it'll make the entire country smoke-free by 2030.
Close to six million people smoke in England – and tobacco remains the single biggest cause of preventable illness and death.
The Department of Health and Social Care said that tackling tobacco and helping people quit smoking could tackle 15 types of cancers.
What does Dr Khan want?
- To raise the age a Brit can smoke by a year every year – so eventually no one will be allowed to buy a pack
- To paint cigs green or brown
- To mark each one with the specific number of 'minutes of life lost'
- To ban films which show smokers before the 9pm watershed
- To give all new films with smoking scenes an 18 rating
- To ban people who live in social housing from smoking in their own home
- To ban lighting up in beer gardens and other public places
- To jack up the price of a pack by 30 per cent overnight
Recent data shows that one in four deaths from all cancers were estimated to have been from smoking – including lung cancer, throat cancer and acute myeloid leukaemia.
Dr Khan said:“A smoke-free society should be a social norm – but to achieve this, we must do more to stop people taking up smoking, help those who already smoke and support those who are disproportionately impacted by smoking."
But his report has faced much criticism already.
Christopher Snowdon, an author and head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, called the report "absolutely insane".
"I don't why the Government asked this guy to carry out a review," he blasted.
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"He has gathered the most crackpot ideas from the lunatic fringe of the nanny state lobby and compiled them in a single document.
"It's an embarrassment."
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