Tobacco display ban shouud it be banned?

GUERNSEY could follow England and Wales and outlaw the display of tobacco products in shops.
The UK Government announced its ban yesterday, which could come into force by 2011 and is aimed at stopping youngsters smoking. Plans for a total ban on vending machines and branding on cigarette packets will not go ahead at the moment, but the moves have not been ruled out for the future.
Health promotion officer Gerry Le Roy said Guernsey was working to implement a package of legislation which included banning advertising at the point of sale. This did not currently include banning the product display, but the authorities were always looking at further ways to reduce the prevalence of smoking.
‘Currently in Guernsey, unsupervised vending machines should require tokens which have to be purchased over a bar or shop counter, thereby restricting their use by people under 18 years of age,’ she said. Mrs Le Roy said vending machines which were supervised could be operated using coins.
A healthy lifestyle survey has just been conducted and figures showing any change to the number of people smoking since the ban on doing so in enclosed public places came into force on 1 July 2006 will be available early next year (from thisguernsey)

Should it be banned from display?

THERE is never going to be a right time to try to ban the display of tobacco products in shops and pubs, according to Jersey’s head of Health Promotions.
Andrew Heaven said that Health was taking the wider economy into account, including the healthcare cost of treating cancers, when putting forward their proposals to ban retailers from displaying any tobacco products.
Responding to comments from Ray Shead, the vice-president of the Jersey Chamber of Commerce, who said that Health’s plans would harm small businesses in an already strained economic climate, Mr Heaven said: ‘I don’t think there will ever be a bad time to help people given the known dangers of tobacco and the harm it causes.
‘When you bring any regulations in such as smoking in the workplace, a lot of businesses said that it would adversely affect them and once we brought the ban in, many of the fears were not realised. From a public health perspective, we are looking at the economy in its wider sense and the profit of individual retailers needs to be balanced out against the harmful effects of tobacco further down the line. The message does not get much stronger than smoking kills. (rom thisisjersey)

Da