Cigarette displays to be removed from shops to deter young smoking
Last updated 10/12/2008 09:24:25
Cigarette displays to be removed from shops to deter young smoking
The Government has revealed plans to remove cigarette displays in shops and prevent underage access to vending machines, in a bid to stop children and young people taking up smoking.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson revealed there had been an impressive public response to a consultation by the Department of Health on the future of tobacco control.
Over 96,000 responses were received, overwhelmingly supporting removing tobacco displays in shops, and tough action to restrict access to vending machines.
Mr Johnson explained that since the ban on tobacco advertising, retail displays in shops are the main way in which tobacco products are marketed to children.
"Enticing multi-coloured displays encourage young people to start smoking - we must put a stop to this," he said. "Smoking is a habit which is hard to break and causes 87,000 deaths a year in England alone.
"Protecting children from smoking is our goal. My hope is that shops will use this opportunity to promote healthier goods to their customers."
Over eight in ten adults in Great Britain who have ever smoked regularly say that they started before they were 19. In England in 2007, nearly 200,000 children aged between 11-15 years of age were regular smokers. These children are 3 times more likely to die ofcancer due to smoking than someone who starts in their mid-20s.
Point of sale displays have already been removed in a number of countries including Canada. The Government says comprehensive results compiled by the Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey shows that removing point of sale display has coincided with a fall in smoking prevalence rates amongst 15 to 19 year olds - from 29 per cent in 2002 to 19 per cent in 2007.
It adds there is no evidence that stores have had to close as a result of removing displays in either Iceland or in Canada. These measures will be taken forward in primary legislation through the Health Bill in the next parliamentary session.