Watching the news this lunch time, I heard that the government now wishes to ban the displays that hold the cigarettes behind a shop counter. The ban, which would affect all of England, is the next move in forcing people to cut down or quit smoking. It is also an act that they hope will deter children from buying cigarettes or starting to smoke in the first place. Outlining the proposals, Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said it was "vital" to teach children that "smoking is bad".
Call me stupid but how is this going to deter children from smoking? Just because cigarettes are out of sight doesn't mean they are out of mind! How naive can you be? Children smoke because they are rebelling, and they are doing this 'cos they know it is bad. They smoke to look grown up. Hiding cigarettes wont deter children from smoking. To me, they will see it as a challenge. So far over the last two years, the government has banned smoking in public places, and increased the age limit on buying tobacco. It has done the usual price increase and tax increase and still, more and more people are smoking at a younger age.
I am an ex-smoker, and I only quit because I chose to. I would not have been forced into it by my parents, boyfriend, family, local shops or government. Hiding cigarettes will not have any difference whatsoever to a smoker in my eyes. If you are addicted to tobacco you will happily go into a shop and ask for cigarettes whether it be from behind or under the counter. A smoker will also brave the elements of any weather to smoke. The smoking ban that the government has thought up does not deter smokers at all. If anything, it promotes social inclusion. One of my fellow classmates told me that as a smoker he has met some great people whom he got talking to whilst being forced to smoke outside, as people cluster together and it is a more sociable affair.
The only difference this will make is expense to the shopkeeper who will have to have special cabinets made for under the counter, & further expense to the shop keeper who already has the current display cases which will now be redundant and end up in landfill. Cigarette manufacturers supply these displays to shops anyway, so surely the tobacco companies are at fault?
The only plus point that I can see is that if they are under the counter, it makes it harder for opportunist thieves to just lean over and swipe them!
What do you think? Anybody in favour of this latest government proposal? Let me know your thoughts and reasons behind them
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7310884.stm
1 comment:
I agree with your statement saying out of sight does not mean out of mind, however I think this new idea does make it that bit harder for new smokers to be tempted. Obviously there will be other ways to purchase them, but it will cut down the amount of cigarettes which are illegally sold to underage kids because of the fact people behind the counter, are too afraid to ask.
I am totally for this new ban as will be less tempting for new quitters. If a new smoking quitter went to buy a magazine and was exposed to row upon row of cigarettes then the chances of them purchasing one is higher than that of someone who has recently quit smoking and isn’t exposed to cigarettes behind the counter.
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