A CAMPAIGN against proposals for a ban on the display of tobacco is using tactics of misinformation and confusion, according to the Guernsey Adolescent Smokefree Project.

Chairman Alun Williams (pictured) said the Save Our Shops campaign, led by Phillip Morgan, pictured, of the Paperbox with the backing of the Channel Islands Tobacco Importers and Manufacturers’ Association, was using the usual tobacco industry tricks of misinformation.

‘We understand the anxieties of traders because tobacco sales have been so lucrative in the past. But times change and quite simply there are occasions when benefiting the public health must take precedence.

‘These displays are all about targeting children and promoting smoking to them. They no longer have a place in our community which cares about the health of its young people,’ he said.

In a letter to SOS representatives, Gasp stated that its campaign should get its facts right and that it had ignored global research findings. Gasp argued that display at the point of sale had a direct impact on young people smoking.

Mr Morgan said he respected the work that Gasp did but the SOS campaign had got its facts right.

‘I would not have spent eight months researching the issue, if I thought this display ban would have any effect. What we are proposing is accurate information that is not misinformed – all Gasp’s arguments are emotive.’