Smoke Shops Should Be Forced to Cigarettes Out Of Customers Sight

Leading doctors are urging the government to press ahead with controversial plans to force shops to put Pall Mall cigarettes out of customers' sight and only sell them from under the counter.

Many of the UK's leading medical practitioners, including Sir Terence Stephenson, the president of the Royal College of Paediatrics, believe a ban on displaying cigarettes publicly will cut smoking rates and improve children's health by reducing their exposure to tobacco products.

It is due to come into effect for supermarkets from late next year and from October 2013 for small shops. But the coalition government has not yet decided whether to implement the measure, which was passed by the Labour administration as part of the Health Act of 2009.

Representatives for small businesses and the tobacco industry have told ministers that proceeding with the plan will threaten the livelihood of thousands of newsagents and increase the consumption of black market cigarettes. But health campaigners stress that small retailers have not been affected in Ireland, which already has a point-of-sale display ban.

It had been thought likely that the cabinet's Reducing Regulation Committee, set up to ease burdens on business, would scrap the ban when it meets tomorrow. Anti-ban campaigners had privately voiced confidence that business secretary Vince Cable, who chairs the committee, shared their concerns.

But the issue's importance means the final decision is now likely to be taken only after discussions involving Cable and health secretary Andrew Lansley. Stephenson is among several key medical figures demanding that the coalition does not go back on the ban. "This is a vitally important public health measure," he said.

Sir Richard Thompson, president of the Royal College of Physicians, which represents the UK's hospital doctors, said: "Our society should aim to take smoking out of all our lives, and this includes preventing children from being subjected to tobacco advertising in shops at the point of sale. Other countries like Ireland and Canada have shown that this works, and so now it is time for our government to protect children by fully implementing the legislation to ban point-of-sale advertising and vending machines. Surely we owe this to the future health of our children."

Dr Lindsey Davies, president of the UK Faculty of Public Health, wants ministers to implement both the public display ban and the outlawing of cigarette vending machines in pubs. "Tobacco kills and these are simple, relatively cheap measures that are designed to protect children from a very toxic substance."

A Department of Health spokeswoman declined to say whether Lansley backed the ban or not. "The government has already announced its intention to consider options around the display of cigarettes in shops that will seek to balance public health priorities with reducing unnecessary burdens on business," she said. "Details will be announced in due course."