Cigarettes to be sold under shop counters
SHOPS will be made to hide cigarettes under the counter in an attempt to cut smoking by children, the Government said yesterday.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson added that he would make it more difficult for under-18s to use cigarette vending machines, possibly by making people buy tokens to use them.
He may ban them if that does not work.
But Leicester newsagent Ken Patel, spokesman for the Tobacco Retailers Alliance, said the ban on displaying cigarettes in shops was just a “gimmick” and would cost small shopkeepers thousands of pounds when they can least afford it.
He added: “This has little to do with youth smoking.
“If the Government was serious about that, it would make it illegal for adults to buy tobacco for minors, something we shopkeepers have campaigned for.”
Mr Johnson also revealed yesterday that he had ditched a plan to ban the sale of cigarettes in packs of 10, which are more affordable for children, because many adult smokers who are trying to cut down buy them.
He said: “This is primarily about children – 11 to 15-year-olds. Advertising has been removed from television, film and newspapers. The only point now where there is advertising is point-of-sale. Other countries have found when they banned point-of-sale displays, they reduced the number of young people taking up smoking.
“Having these displays prompts impulse purchases and makes it more difficult for people who are determined to quit to actually quit.”
Vending machines, believed to be the source of cigarettes for up to a fifth of young smokers, will also face a ban or age-proofing measures such as a requirement to buy tokens for the machines rather than using cash.
There will be more research on whether forcing companies to sell their cigarettes in plain packaging could further reduce their appeal to under-18s.
Dame Helena Shovelton, chief executive of the British Lung Foundation, said: “Removing cigarettes from point-of-sale is a step in the right direction in preventing smoking-related respiratory diseases.
“But nearly three-quarters of people with lung disease tell us there should be a total ban on cigarette vending machines as they are the main source of cigarettes for young smokers.”
Gordon Brown said last month it was not good enough that smoking rates among children had only been cut from 13 per cent to six per cent. The Government has raised the age limit for buying tobacco from 16 to 18.
