Responding to proposals, reported today, by the Scottish Greens to ban the display or sale of "sweet tasting vapes" in shops, Simon Clark, director of Forest, said: “Restrictions on the sale or display of flavoured vapes would be a massive own goal because it would...
2022 News Releases
New Zealand: Banning sale of cigarettes to new generations “absurd” says Forest
Smokers' rights campaigners say a new law passed in New Zealand that will ban new generations from ever buying cigarettes is “absurd”. Director of Forest Simon Clark said, “Banning younger adults from buying cigarettes legally won’t stop people smoking. “It will...
Ireland: Tobacco tax hike “unforgivable” says Forest
Budget 2023: Responding to the 50c increase in the price of cigarettes, John Mallon, spokesman for Forest Ireland, said: "Targeting smokers, many of whom are on the lowest incomes, with yet another tax hike is unforgivable, especially during a cost of living crisis....
Ireland: Forest slams call to raise age of sale of tobacco to 21
Forest Ireland has slammed a call by the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland to increase the minimum legal age for buying tobacco to 21. John Mallon, spokesman for the smokers' lobby group Forest Ireland, said: "At 18 you are legally an adult and you should be...
Banning smoking outside hospitals “discriminates against elderly and infirm”
Campaigners say a law that bans smoking within 15 metres of hospital buildings discriminates against the elderly and the infirm. The new law, which came into force in Scotland today, applies to staff, visitors and patients. Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ lobby...
Smokers in Northern Ireland must not be discriminated against, says Forest
Responding to reports that an EU ban on flavoured heated tobacco products might be imposed on Northern Ireland because of Protocol rules, Simon Clark, director of Forest, said: “Smokers in Northern Ireland must not be discriminated against. If flavoured heated tobacco...
Campaigners condemn “creeping” prohibition” of tobacco
Forest has condemned a proposal to raise the age of sale of tobacco as “creeping prohibition”. The idea to increase the age of sale from 18 by one year every year 'until no one can buy a tobacco product in this country' is one of several recommendations by Javed Khan,...
Calculation that smoking costs society £17bn a year “absurd”
Forest has rejected as “absurd” the claim that smokers cost society £17 billion a year, £5 billion more than previously estimated. Dismissing the calculation, published today [Friday January 14] by the anti-smoking group Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), Simon...
In This Section
Mission & Vision
Mission
Forest’s mission is to protect the interests of adults who choose to smoke or consume tobacco.
Our key aims and objectives are to:
- counteract the “denormalisation” of smoking, and smokers
- prevent further restrictions on the purchase and consumption of tobacco
- establish closer links with other tobacco-friendly groups at home and abroad
- build support among consumers of tobacco and other similarly threatened groups
- highlight the increasingly intrusive nature of Big Government in the lives of private individuals