Tobacco display ban to enforce in England from today

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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According to the reports, tobacco display ban within the shops in England as the latest anti-smoking law came into effect Friday, stores meant to hide cigarettes from public view.

The new ruling applies that all tobacco products must be kept out of public sight except when staff are serving customers or restocking. This display ban covers for shops more than 280 square metres (3,014 square feet). Those found involved in breaching the law could be fined up to £5,000 ($7,930, 6,070 euros) or even entitlement to prison. The ban exemptions are only for small stores until 2015, allowing them more time to refit shelves and cabinets.

According to the recent figures, above 300,000 children under age 16 smoke each year and five percent of children aged 11 to 15 are smoke regularly. In addition, 39 percent of smokers have told that they began before the age of 16. Around one fifth of Britain adults are smokers.

Health minister, Anne Milton has stated: “We cannot ignore the fact that young people are recruited into smoking by colourful, eye-catching, cigarette displays. Most adult smokers started smoking as teenagers and we need to stop this trend. Banning displays of cigarettes and tobacco will help young people resist the pressure to start smoking and help the thousands of adults in England who are currently trying to quit.”

In Britain, it is illegal to sell tobacco to individuals under the age of 18, though various parts of the U.K. have set their own legislation related to smoking. Smoking in to the enclosed public places was banned in England in July 2007. The government is also considering to introduce the plain packaging for cigarette packets and other tobacco products.

Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley has told BBC: “We want to arrive at a place where we no longer see smoking as a normal part of life. We’re doing it by stages with constant, active pressure. The culture is about moving to a place where… people don’t encounter it normally: they don’t see it in their big supermarkets, they don’t see people smoking in public places, they don’t see tobacco vending machines.”

Director of smokers’ group Forest, Simon Clark has opposed the ruling and said, “There is no justification for a display ban. There are tens of millions of people in Britain today who have never smoked and have never been encouraged to smoke by the sight of a packet of cigarettes in a shop or anywhere else. After some initial confusion, existing smokers will ask for their regular brand and carry on smoking.”

There is a probability that similar measures will eventually be introduced in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

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