Health and Social Services minister Deputy Hunter Adam, right, talking to Phillip Morgan after receiving the petition with 1,200 signatures on it. On the left is Deputy Francis Quin. (Picture by Tom Tardif, 0795713)
IF CIGARETTES are keeping shopkeepers in business then they should change what they sell, according to Health and Social Services minister Hunter Adam.
He made the comment after being presented with a 1,200-strong petition against a ban on the display of tobacco products and a law on proxy sales.
The signatures were collected by Paperbox and Candy Shop proprietor Phillip Morgan and the Channel Island Tobacco Importers and Manufacturers’ Association.
Mr Morgan claimed that a ban on displays would force retailers out of business because of the costs associated with fitting a tobacco display below the counter.
‘If profits from cigarette sales are the main thing keeping them [shopkeepers] in business then I’d find it difficult to justify that because they pose a danger to people’s health,’ said Deputy Adam.
He added that the tobacco industry could help cover the cost of fitting the displays and there was already a law in place to prevent proxy sales.
‘But I do accept that [the law] is difficult to enforce,’ he said.
Mr Morgan asked Deputy Adam whether alcohol would be the next thing to be put under the counter.
But Deputy Adam, who smokes a pipe, said a small amount of alcohol did not do a person any harm.
‘The problem with smoking is that it causes lung cancer.’
Deputy Francis Quin, who was present when the petition was handed over, said that anything to cut down smoking was a big plus.
But Deputy John Gollop said, if implemented, the ban would only help to close more corner shops.
‘There are only corner shops left in St Peter Port. This ban would add to shops already struggling with high rent.’
Mr Morgan said his talk with Deputy Adam had left him concerned.
‘He does not understand the commercial reality of running a small shop. What are we supposed to change our products to?’
He said cigarette sales often subsidised the sale of other products such as milk.
‘While we don’t want kids to start smoking, it doesn’t make every anti-smoking move right,’ he said.
‘Local people are tired of needless and expensive legislation that simply copies Europe or the UK. The public response to the petition was significant.’
Mr Morgan said he would now await the results of the consultation on the topic, which finished at the end of May.
Article posted on 26th June, 2009 - 11.30am
28 Article Comments
Well said Hunter. Cigarettes are a tremendous burnden on society and I challange anyone to present facts against this.
Cigarettes lead to long-term healthcare issues for the individuals and the healthcare community which has to pick up the costs. Even the cigarette packets tell us this.
I am a non-smoker and have had relatives die from smoking – can you guess?
Shops will have to be imaginative and focus more on other sales-goods to make their profits. But let me tell you, a smoker will continue to buy their cigarettes regardless of advertising.
What this law will hopefully do is reduce the number of new smokers or younger people who try smoking because the cigarettes are readily on display.
Shame on shop vendors for trying to make a profit from other misery and addiction.
I could understand thier concerns if there were a ban of advertising fresh fruit and vegetables, but not smoking. I am disgusted with them.
The negative stigma of smoking has to be reinforced not slackened if we are to prevent further misery as a result of the effects of smoking.
We want a healthy future – smoking is not part of this.
You never see cigarettes advertised as ‘part of a healthy diet’ or ‘one of your five a day’. Why not – because they kill. At least their packaging admits that.
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It’s a tricky one this isn’t it. On the one hand you have the ill effects of smoking which are well documented, and on the other hand you have a freedom of choice issue. In the middle there are the retailers trying to make a living and run a business. They merely supply a demand
and are not out to profit from misery or addiction, remember, smoking tobacco is legal.
I don’t see any ban on car advertisements or car showrooms having blacked out windows because cars cause injury and death.
Rather than punish those trying to run their businesses profitably with a law that will only add to the burden of our law enforcers perhaps the Health and Social Services should look to charge those with smoking related illness for their treatment, that way the smoker is targeted directly. This sort of “non cover” is commonplace with health insurance providers such as WPA, AXA PPP etc.
I don’t believe that children are really encouraged to smoke because of a display in a shop, they are far more likely to be influenced by their peer group, elder siblings and friends, parents and relatives. There is enough one sided anti-smoking/drinking “education” in schools nowadays which has some effect but at some point or another young people will decide for themselves or be encouraged to try smoking, in some cases, the stronger the message not to smoke the more likely it is some people will smoke because that’s human nature.
It seems to me that the balanced view doesn’t count with the anti smoking lobby, not everyone who smokes dies or gets seriously ill just as not everyone who drinks becomes an alcoholic, in fact too much of most things seems to be harmful nowadays, moderation is the answer in consumption and opinion.
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I agree with Hunter Adam and Guernsey fan.
Addicted smokers will continue to buy and use cigarettes as long as it is legal to do so whatever the obstacles. We must do all possible to reduce the number of new smokers and that should involve removing all references – even the fact that cigarettes are available – from public view. The cigarette addicts will know where to get their supplies (just like the cocain and heroin users) without the need for advertising.
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Really it makes no sense that nicotine patches and the like can only be bought in chemists, yet cigarettes, as a nicotine delivery system, are not.
All products not suitable for minors – booze, fags and other drugs, should be sold in separate shops where it will be obvious that kids are not permitted – see bookies or ‘adult’ shops.
After all, we would object if Spice or Toot were sold in a shop like Accessorize or New Look, wouldn’t we?
The days when cigarettes are treated like groceries should be long gone.
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I also agree with Hunter Adam and Guernsey Fan.
In fact i would go as far to say that it should be made illegal to manufacture them. Most people who smoke wish they didn`t and would probably be happy if they had no choice.
And thats from a smoker, or should i say drug addict, which is exactly what it is.
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All this advice from a man who smokes, albeit a pipe,(G.Press report today),does one assume therefore there will be an exemption on the advertising of that product,double standards?
Let’s hope he’s not seen by the vulnerable public and interpreted as a role model.
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A ill informed comment from a politician again, has he ever checked what the margin on a packet of cigarettes is? Profit hardly comes into the equation shops sell them in the vain hope people will come in still to buy something else with there packet of twenty to cover the cost of the delightful TRP that they now have to pay after the states decided to try and bankrupt the island. The only profit made on cigarettes in the islands is by the states with the duty they charge.
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i moved to canada from guernsey in 2005. just over a year ago i quit smoking after being hooked for 13 years. i used a drug named champix to quit and it worked wonders.
what also helped was that the canadian government introduced their “dark law” calling for all cigarettes to be covered up in shops. people still smoke here and no shops have gone out of business.
covering up the cigarettes helped me and it’s nice not to see them anymore. for die hard smokers though, they will continue to smoke if the cigarettes are covered up or not. speaking as a former smoker not once would i have ever said “even though i’m heavily addicted i’m gonna quit cos i can’t see them.” that’s ridiculous.
this will not hurt anyone’s business.
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GregR – the difference between cars and smoking is that although they cause deaths, cars can have a positive effect on our lives.
whereas smoking has no positive effects whatsoever. there is absolutely no good reason at all for smoking. accepting that fact is a large part of quitting.
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It would seem that our freedom of choice is being taken away, bit by bit. If a person wishes to smoke, let them. This witch hunt has gone on long enough. To compare a smoker with a drug addict is ridiculous and childish. Also, obese people cost the health service a lot more than smokers do.
I would rather sit next to a smoker than a fat person on a plane.
And before you start shouting, I am a non- smoker, but firmly believe that people should be allowed decide for themselves how they lead thier lives.
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Tony
If most smokers were to be honest about smoking i bet they either wish they never started or could give up at a flick of a switch.
Why is comparing a smoker to a drug addict ridiculous? thats what smokers are, i`m one of them.
The fag controls the user and not the other way round.
Where`s the freedom in that?
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Hang on.
“Mr Morgan claimed that a ban on displays would force retailers out of business because of the costs associated with fitting a tobacco display below the counter.”
Surely a tobacco display underneath the counter is called “a shelf”??
Mr Morgan. Give me a call, I’ve got a few nice pieces of ply that could work.
(btw. Shame on the 1,200 people who signed that petition.)
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Smokers already pay for any healthcare they may need in the future through the outrageous taxes that are put on the price of cigarettes. The amount we pay more than likely subsidises the healthcare of the non-smokers. We are no more harming anyone than all the vehicle drivers who spew out their pollution with all their unnecessary trips to work when most could use a bus instead.
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Well said Student Bob,
Tobacco displays should be taken down, cigarettes should be stored on a shelf under the counter.
The claim that businesses will go out of business is ludicrous. Everyone knows about smoking, you hardly need to advertise it – nor do you need to advertise that you sell the product.
This would not effect business!
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Alcohol and unhealthy foods are displayed openly on the shelves of supermarkets and in shop windows. The decision to target cigarettes and to put small shopkeepers out of business appears to be a random one and poorly thought out.
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I can see both sides of the argument but in my humble opinion I suspect that banning the display of cigarettes will do nothing to hold back the tide of youngsters who will begin smoking through peer pressure and the older people who have spent a lifetime doing so.
If the States really had any backbone they would ban smoking and tobacco products entirely not just pick on certain cosmetic details, but of course this is too much of a cash cow to kill off. What would replace all that lovely tax that the government is benefitting from each time a packet is sold?
BTW, I gave up smoking years ago and have never been tempted back by the display cabinet in my local corner shop.
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Same old smokers tosh, I’ve heard it time after time for many years, poor old smokers what a joke!.
I am old enough to remember when lung cancer was first linked with smoking. The point smokers made very forcefully then was that old so and so died of lung cancer and they never smoked!.Today you wont hear that because we now know just why they contracted lung cancer.
Nobody has the right to inflict harm on others and smoking does harm others wether smokers ignore it or not.
Whinging smokers, I’ve been called a whinging nonesmoker for decades so get used to it for the days when a considerate smoker smoked and the considerate nonesmokers put up and shut up are long gone.
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I smoke occasionally but cannot understand the greed of governments around the world.
If the intent is to seriously reduce the number of people smoking, just ban the sale of cigarettes, cigars and any other tobacco based product.
The only barrier is the loss of tax revenue.
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Pete
I can assure that you will still hear old so and so died/got cancer and never smoked. My best friends 17year old son got lung cancer and he had never smoked, luckily he made a full recovery and I know of other cases where people have got lung cancer and never smoked. Check out the facts before you talk rubbish!!!
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Pete
I think your just one of those people who dont like people that smoke aswell as the smoke it self.
It appears your doing most of the whinging here, i bet your a serial moaner :)
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Couldn’t they just replace the fags in the cabinet behind them with a big sign that says
FAGS AND STUFF HERE GET FIXED UP GOOD AND PROPER GO ON IT’S COOL ALL AT LOW LOW £££s UNDER THE COUNTER SERVICE
COUGH UP SOME PHLEGM POLITELY FOR A CIG-NAL!
FAKE ID WELCOMED
?
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Guernsey Gal yes I talk rubbish as I’m a nonesmoker, it’s only the smokers who know the facts.
bcb like I said all the same old smokers tosh, and insults of coarse.But as I said (again)the days when a considerate smoker smoked and the considerate nonesmokers put up and shut up are long gone.
I whinge a lot less these days as I can’t get heard over all the smokers complaining about their lost rights.
After you!.
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Pete
Thanks you just proved my point.
I was referring to what seems to me that you just have a dislike for smokers.
You accuse me of insults when you describe smokers as whingers? (pot and kettle).
I whinge a lot less these days as I can’t get heard over all the smokers complaining about their lost rights.
After you!.
Most of the smokers i know welcomed the bans in public places and understood that it is right that people shouldn`t have to put up with second hand smoke.
But you just choose to listen to the whingers (vocal few) and treat every smoker the same, but don`t worry there`s lots of smoke haters out there so your not alone.
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What ever happened to Civil Liberties or Human Rights? Not that I believe in them a whole lot.
People should have freedom of choice.
Cigarettes are legal. Fact.
I think that alcohol, and fatty foods are far more destructive than cigarettes in that they create obesity and high blood pressure etc etc which is passed on. More significantly, alchohol creates a culture of violence and dependency plus abuse. Sure, cigarettes are addictive, but no one goes and beats each other up afterwards.
Difficult one – I hate passive smoking, being a non-smoker, but surely if someone wants to buy them, then let them.
Cigarette packets have warnings, and shopkeepers are required by law to sell to people over 16.
What more can you say.
Minister Adam is in cloud cuckoo land.
Wonder if he is good mates with Deputy Jones?
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Funny old argument this. On one thread we’ll have the vendors of legal products pilloried for peddling toxins to the masses, and yet here we are extolling the virtues of cancer sticks in shiny cabinets.
Cigarettes should be a specialised market only available through tobacconists, with bars to minors. Then they can put up all the advertising they like.
Anyway, what profit do these shop keepers think they will lose? Are they reliant on attracting new smokers through neon-lit shelves? Makes a bit of a mockery to their argument doesn’t it?
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Im a smoker but i think the best thing that happened was the smoking ban so that people go outside to smoke.
I understand people who do not smoke and i like to respect their wishes.
I think its good for people to have their own choices but i do thing one day, ciggarettes will be a thing of the past.
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Its simple
You dont want cigarettes sold in shops, then make them illegal.
To defer the issue on to the shopkeeper is predictable government spin which deflects attention away from the tax/ cigarettes issue, which is the real reason that they are still sold.
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THE MAN
Nicely put, I agree with you, but would a local states member do the same.
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