All Cigarette Displays Should be Taken Away within 100 Days
The British government is reminding store retailers to take away the cigarette displays within the following 100 days. According to the Department of Health, the ban that will take effect on April, 6, would keep teenagers away from any tobacco promotion. Smaller retailers were allowed not to change their displays until 2015. Anti-smoking activists state that the given ban is a very essential step in protecting the health of people. Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are already starting to adopt similar bans.
Beginning 6 April 2012, customers in England will still have the right to purchase cigarettes in the usual way, but the ban which was proclaimed in 2008 will men that tobacco products will have to be stored under the counter. The medical officer for England, Professor Dame Sally Davies, declared: “Taking away cigarettes displays in stores and supermarket will protect teenagers from unsolicited advertisement, assisting them to withstand the desire to light up a cigarette. “It also should help those adults who are trying to stop smoking.”
According to recent findings presented by the medical officer, more than 80,000 people in England die each year from smoking related diseases. The anti-smoking activists have declared that placing tobacco products near such products as chocolate and chips makes smoking look like a common part of life. “It is very important to do everything possible in order to place smoking products out of sight and even out of mind, thus protecting our future generation from dangerous diseases,” stated Jean Arnott representative of the Cancer Research UK. “The main part of all heavy smokers will die from smoking and the other part will likely become addicted as young people.” Such countries as Canada, Iceland, Thailand and Norway have already prohibited visible cigarette displays.
“Retailers have nothing to worry about. The example of Ireland, when the legislation was adopted there, was that chain smokers still knew where to purchase cigarettes and didn’t need any displays to decide what precisely they want to buy,” stated Sara Fox, representative for the Action on Smoking and Health, also known as Ash. Scotland plans to implemented similar ban in 2012. At the same time the Welsh government stated it still wants to introduce regulations to ban the display of smoking products at the point of purchase, but legal challenges have postponed the process.