Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and disease globally. In the UK, it leads to over 100,000 avoidable deaths every year and causes many more people to lose years of active life through smoking-related illnesses.
Tobacco and its smoke contain a toxic cocktail of over 4,000 chemicals, many of which are known to cause cancer, heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease amongst many other conditions.
All forms of tobacco are harmful – cigarettes, hand-rolling tobacco, niche tobacco – and regardless of whether it was bought from an illegal or legal source, one in two long-term tobacco users will die early as a result of smoking.
View a film from Fresh and trading standards partners talking about the problems that illegal tobacco brings into communities.