A city MP has backed calls to strip branding messages from cigarette packaging, following reports the Government will soon launch a consultation on the issue.
Norwich South' Simon Wright said he believed banning the messages would help protect children from a dangerous lifetime habit.
The Liberal Democrat, who is a member of the all party parliamentary group on smoking and health, said: 'Hundreds of thousands of children try cigarettes every year. There can be little doubt that bright coloured packaging and sophisticated branding is why some young people are attracted to cigarettes. Banning such packaging will help protect children from the harms of smoking, and potentially from a very dangerous lifetime habit.
'Smoking brings enormous costs to the NHS, accounting for millions of pounds of treatments for conditions that can be prevented.'
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