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16
Sept 2020
Harrogate is the smoking capital of North Yorkshire
Harrogate has the highest number of smokers in North Yorkshire, according to government figures.
Vaping company Vape Club analysed Public Health England data which revealed that 14.4% of adults living in the Harrogate district are smokers, above other districts in the county and the national figure of 13.9%.
One tobacconist in Harrogate told the Stray Ferret a trend towards different kinds of smoking could be behind the statistics - along with the coronavirus crisis.
James Barber has a shop on Cold Bath Road and told the Stray Ferret that his sales have doubled since lockdown. He said this is because smokers have not been able to travel abroad where they would usually buy cheaper cigarettes or rolling tobacco.
Mr Barber moved the shop to Harrogate from Otley last year and said there is a "phenomenal trade" in the town for expensive cigars.
He has also seen a rise in young men in their 20s who are becoming bored with vaping, and instead have moved on to smoking tobacco pipes. He said the pipe has been "reinvented" from the days of it being an old man's pastime.
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The government introduced the indoor smoking ban in 2007, plain packaging for cigarettes in 2017, banned menthol cigarettes this year and has an ambition for the UK to be "smoke free" by 2030.
According to Public Health England, smoking is the leading cause of preventable illness and premature death in England, with about half of all lifelong smokers dying prematurely, losing on average around 10 years of life. In 2016 alone, there were around 78,000 deaths attributable to smoking, representing 16% of all deaths across the UK.
A spokesman for North Yorkshire County Council's Living Well SmokeFree service said:
But Mr Barber said some people in Harrogate are still smoking "because they don't like being told what to do by the government".
He added:
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