Ireland should make it “illegal to manufacture” tobacco as part of its public health strategy to stop people smoking, a medical oncologist and former senator has said.

On The Pat Kenny Show today, John Crown said tobacco would “never be legal” if it was discovered today.

An estimated half a million people still smoke in Ireland every day.

Mr Crown said there is a “very powerful lobby” against changes to limit tobacco consumption.

“The lobby in favour of maintaining the status quo from manufacturers to growers to distributors is huge,” he said.

“We need to grasp the nettle, acknowledge the stuff for what it is and bring in a new strategy.

“We need to continue to increase gentle pressure on behavioural change, disincentives, higher taxes.”

'It would never be legal'

The former senator said tobacco is inherently dangerous.

“It’s a product entirely legal to make, grow, manufacture, distribute and sell, which, if used exactly as directed, causes cancer and many other diseases,” he said.

“There’s no doubt about it; if tobacco was discovered now - it would never be legal.

“It’s been great-great-great-great grandfathered into existence.

“When it was first consumed in the Americas and subsequently in Europe, people didn’t know the health consequences.”

Close-up of woman smoking a cigarette. Image: Image Source / Alamy Stock Photo

Mr Crown said tighter laws need to be implemented to control the supply of tobacco in Ireland.

“I can’t think of any basic constitutional, legal, human rights of man principle by which you should be allowed to profit from something which addicts people and causes cancer,” he said.

“We should be making it illegal to manufacture, sell, and distribute tobacco projects.

“In a world short of food, wouldn’t all those fields growing tobacco be put to better use - we should stop them.”

Taxation

Mr Crown said the taxation lost on the sale of tobacco would be saved elsewhere.

“We’ll spend less money on healthcare,” he said.

“Why not put VAT on bank robbers and lots of other things bad for society?

“We don’t use other bad things as revenue streams – we try to ban them.

“We should give the industry ten or 15 years, it will have to be done multi-nationally, and say you won't be able to do it after that stage.”

Some 6,000 smokers die in Ireland every year from tobacco-related diseases.

Main image: A man smoking a cigarette. Image: Jes2ufoto / Alamy Stock Photo