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Last year smoking was banned in all enclosed public places. Pubs, clubs and bingo halls are closing as a direct result and jobs are being lost. Now there are proposals to ban the display of tobacco in shops and outlaw cigarette vending machines, despite the fact that:
- there is no evidence that either measure would serve any public health purpose and many people expect that hiding cigarettes will make them more attractive to rebellious teenagers
- the measures are widely expected to damage small businesses (particularly small shops)
- the display ban is widely expected to compromise the security and, if product has to be stored under the counter, the health and safety of retail industry staff
- the measures are expected to exacerbate the black market in tobacco products to the detriment of all legitimate business and those working for them
- the display ban attempts to shame smokers by making them purchase tobacco in the way that pornography used to be purchased
- the display ban will inconvenience millions of consumers (smokers and the non-smokers queuing behind them)
Has the government forgotten that tobacco is a legal consumer product; that millions of people enjoy smoking and don’t wish to quit; that each year Britain’s smokers contribute over £9 billion to the Treasury and don’t deserve to be stigmatised by politicians and campaigners; or that thousands of jobs and small businesses rely on tobacco sales?
Enough is enough. Don’t let Big Government dictate our lives.