BHF - Tobacco display ban will help stop kids getting hooked
10 Apr 2012 11:50 AM
New legislation means all large shops and supermarkets in England will have to remove cigarettes and tobacco from public view.
The display ban, set to come into force on April 6, 2012, will place tobacco out of sight of young people and will help people quit smoking. Small shops are expected to follow suit by 2015.
BHF have campaigned strongly for a tobacco display ban because it will help prevent tobacco companies from marketing their products to children. We're also calling for plain cigarette packaging, which means stripping packs of their branding and introducing larger health warnings on packaging. The UK Government will shortly be consulting on tobacco packaging.
The ban is another step towards ensuring tobacco companies can’t advertise their deadly products to children
Despite one in five premature deaths from heart and circulatory disease being linked to smoking, 21 per cent of adults in the UK still smoke cigarettes. Two thirds took up the habit before they were 18 years old.(1)Maura Gillespie, BHF's Head of Policy and Advocacy, said: “The tobacco display ban is another step towards ensuring tobacco companies can’t advertise their deadly products to children and young people.
“We know display advertising works for the tobacco industry and evidence from a similar ban in Ireland shows it had an immediate impact on young people’s attitudes to smoking.
“Measures aimed at protecting the next generation from the dangers of smoking shouldn’t stop at the display ban though. Plain cigarette packs, stripped of their enticing brand designs, will help reinforce the display ban and ultimately save lives in the future.”
Wales and Northern Ireland will be implementing similar bans for large retailers by the end of the year, while Scotland’s ban is being delayed as Imperial Tobacco is fighting the legislation in the Supreme Court.