SCOT'S LOW-KEY ANTI-SMOKING ADVERT DEFENDED

Health campaigners in Scotland have defended their "softly, softly"
approach to persuading young people not to smoke in the wake of a shocking
new publicity drive south of Border.

The English Health Education Authority yesterday launched a new campaign
which features photographs of diseased organs taken from dead smokers. The
poster and internet campaigns show four close-up pictures: a lung rid-with
cancer, a diseased heart, a brain after a haeorrhage and a large tumour
inside a smoker's mouth.

These pictures are linked to black-and-white photographs of young smokers
in clubs and bars, epitomising the cool and trendy image of the habit.

The rising number of young people smoking, particularly girls, is a major
headache for health officials, who fear increased deaths and diseases
linked to tobacco.

The Health Education Board Scotland (HEBS) has no plans to change tactics.
Last year, as part of the Think About It campaign, HEBS launched an
animated television advert that is so subtle it is almost subliminal. In a
'Simpsons'-style format, the advert shows young people chewing on blue
sticks which make them ill, kill them, taste horrible, but are the epitome
of cool. In this advert, shown during young people's favourite programmes
such as 'Friends', no-one admits that they hate the blue stick until one
girl, trying it for the first time, spits it out and dedares: "This tastes
boggin."

The Think About It campaign aims to turn young people against smoking by
promoting a change of attitude - rather than hitting them over the head
with the habit's consequences. A spokesman for HEBS said: "We welcome any
new iniatative to alert young people to the dangers of smoking. HEBS knows
that young people are aware of the drawbacks of smoking and our attitude
has always been that we do not want to hector yonng people. We will
continue with this approach."

The HEA Campaign - "Every cigarette is Doing You Damage" - pursues the "it
couldn't happen to me" attitude prevalent among young people who think
smoking is cool and that its fatal effects are years away. It follows
research in the United States showing that young smokers are already
damaging their bodies.

Katie Aston, the HEA campaign manager, said that while about a third of
people aged 16 to 24 smoked - more than any other age group - "most think
they can quit before it is too late". "Young people think they know the
facts about smoking. But they don't. The damage begins immediately," she
said.

At yesterday's launch, Dr Chris Donovan, who specialises in care for young
people at the Royal College of General Practitioners, described talking to
elderly cancer patients in hospitals. He said: ~They would say to me, 'Why
didn't I listen?' We have a moral obligation to lay the facts in front of
youngsters."

Lisa Barnes, 29, from Chester, who has tried to give up smoking many times
since she started aged 15, said she wished such a campaign had existed
before she got hooked. She said: "It recognises that some teenagers find
smoking glamorous. It's very realistic but very shocking."

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)