• Al Capone$42.50
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Health advocates push for prohibiting vending machines

British Medical Association calls the government to ban machines vending cigarettes and force cigarette makers to pack their cigarettes in plain packaging in order to reduce child smoking rates. The Association also seeks to prohibit cigarette displays in shops, citing that the colorful posters attract children.

The corresponding amendments would be considered today by the members of the House of Commons. The BMA spokesperson stated that 25 percent of British adult population continues to light up although they have been aware that smoking is related to severe health complications. Another concern is that the majority of smokers admit to start puffing before turning 25 years old.

However, the lawmakers decided to provide vending machines with an age-restricting device instead of banning them completely. Such mechanisms include paying with the use of coupons that could be purchased in stores only by adults. Nevertheless, the authors of the age-restriction system admit the system would be implemented in 2011 after all the tests are made. The specially-trained people would monitor the mechanisms’ work. In case the age-restriction system would not be effective, the lawmakers promised to ban vending machines in 2013.

In May, the House of Lords approved a ban on cigarettes displays in shops completely within two years. However, they voted against banning vending machines as it was proposed by BMA. The spokesperson of BMA, Elizabeth Tomlinson said that their Association praised the decision of MPs that would become one of the most efficient methods to protect children from hazards of cigarettes and exposure to secondhand smoke.

Around 180,000 minors between 12 and 16 smoke on regular basis. A research completed by the British Cancer Association showed that 45,000 teenagers obtained cigarettes from vending machines in 2007. The Scotland government recently implemented a ban on cigarette displays and as well outlawed vending machines, after a similar research showed that almost 30 percent of teenagers and young adults (16-24years) smoked regularly.

The Association of Cigarette Retailers argued the efficiency of cigarette displays ban by saying that it was not clear whether it would prompt youth smoking rates drop since many teenagers would perceive cigarettes as a sort of a “forbidden fruit”. British Department of Health spokesperson that they were delighted to know that Lords supported the measures they had introduced to regulate tobacco consumption. She added that banning the displays would play an essential role in preventing children from taking the harmful habit of smoking.

The representative of smokers' rights group Forest, cited the results of a similar ban in Canada, where the children smoking rates went up by 10 percent after the ban was imposed. He said that vending machines should not be banned, but transferred to cashless system, since children have no access to credit cards.

Several countries including Ireland, Canada and Iceland banned cigarette displays in shops. However, the bans met various reactions, Since in Ireland underage smoking rates dropped whereas in Iceland these rates remained constant.