A
ban on cigarettes and other tobacco products being displayed in the
open in supermarkets and large shops has come into force today.
Cigarette displays in supermarkets are banned from today onwards (Picture: PA)
The new
legislation is aimed at cutting down on the number of smokers in the
country and in response to Department of Health research showing
cigarette displays in shops encourage young people to take up the habit.
The research showed 300,000 under-16s had tried smoking and one in five children aged 11 to 15 classed themselves as regular smokers.
Thirty-nine per cent of adult smokers meanwhile said they were smoking regularly before the age of 16.
'We cannot ignore the fact that young people are recruited into smoking by colourful, eye-catching, cigarette displays,' health minister Anne Milton said.
'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.'
The same ban, punishable by a £5,000 fine or imprisonment if violated, will be rolled out to smaller shops and businesses by 2015.
Health secretary Andrew Lansley said the ban was in place to ensure 'we no longer see smoking as a part of life'.
'It's also about supporting smokers who want to give up,' he told BBC Breakfast.
'There's more than a third of smokers who say they want to stop. Each year we have nearly 800,000 smokers who try to quit, 50 per cent succeed.
'We want to continue to increase that proportion, help more people to stop.'
Jean King, of Cancer Research UK, added: 'We want everything we can possibly do to make cigarettes unavailable and inaccessible and something that children don't see as a normal product.
'We need to do everything we can to prevent young people getting hold of cigarettes.'
The research showed 300,000 under-16s had tried smoking and one in five children aged 11 to 15 classed themselves as regular smokers.
Thirty-nine per cent of adult smokers meanwhile said they were smoking regularly before the age of 16.
'We cannot ignore the fact that young people are recruited into smoking by colourful, eye-catching, cigarette displays,' health minister Anne Milton said.
'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.'
Health secretary Andrew Lansley said the ban was aimed at creating a culture shift (Picture: PA)
Under the new laws tobacco products must be kept out of
sight in large shops or supermarkets except when staff are serving
customers or restocking supplies.
The same ban, punishable by a £5,000 fine or imprisonment if violated, will be rolled out to smaller shops and businesses by 2015.
Health secretary Andrew Lansley said the ban was in place to ensure 'we no longer see smoking as a part of life'.
'It's also about supporting smokers who want to give up,' he told BBC Breakfast.
'There's more than a third of smokers who say they want to stop. Each year we have nearly 800,000 smokers who try to quit, 50 per cent succeed.
'We want to continue to increase that proportion, help more people to stop.'
Jean King, of Cancer Research UK, added: 'We want everything we can possibly do to make cigarettes unavailable and inaccessible and something that children don't see as a normal product.
'We need to do everything we can to prevent young people getting hold of cigarettes.'
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