Cigarette vending ban 'may not be effective'
Author: Simon Macsis
Category: Insurance
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Nearly one in four adults still smoke, despite the numerous health problems and costs associated with the habit.
To combat this, the British Medical Association (BMA) is hoping to stop the number of people taking up the habit with the launch of a new health bill, debated in the House of Commons yesterday.
The bill aims to ban the display of tobacco at point-of-sale, promote plain packaging on cigarettes and outlaw vending machines.
However, the effectiveness of this last mission objective is being debated by a healthcare charity, which claims savvy retailers and youngsters may find ways around a ban.
Martin Dockrell, director of research and policy at public health campaigner Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) says that "compromise methods" such as adapting the machines to require tokens or to have them switched on by the bar staff are possible.
"We think that any kind of adaptation would be pretty useless. We [agree with] the British Medical Association that there is no point in messing around," he explains.
Mr Dockrell points out that adult smokers generally do not like the machines anyway, as they are put off by the high prices and reduced number of cigarettes in the pack.
However, younger people can often use them without supervision, so do not mind paying the higher prices, he explains.
"Kids use them excessively. Unlike corner shops, the people operating these machines are almost never prosecuted for these underage sales," he states.
According to the BMA, the vast majority of individuals start smoking before the age of 25 and it remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the UK, which may boost the need for medical health insurance.
Mr Dockrell believes that the principle of cigarette vending machine is wrong, as it allows the easy purchase of a potentially harmful product by an underage individual - an act which some retailers carry out with "impunity".
"They can't buy alcohol from vending machines in this country or knives or glue or fireworks. Why on earth do we have cigarettes sold from these machines?" the healthcare campaigner questions.
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Keywords: personal accident insurance, health cover
View Count: 202
Date Submitted: 7/3/2009
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