"We don't want kids to smoke..."

It's the Mother of all Motherhood Statements. Everyone says it - even tobacco companies (see NEWS below). 

What follows is usually the word "...but..." - followed by opposition to measures shown by research to be effective.

A growing alliance of health, medical, child welfare, educational, church, social equity, community and research organisations want to see children protected from tobacco - and no "but(t)s". 

We'd like to see the selling of tobacco products made more responsible 
and brought into line with other dangerous and addictive products.

AIMS  of ASH and other health groups
NEWS - research and developments on tobacco sale
RESOURCES - including new video and factsheets
RESEARCH EVIDENCE  for putting tobacco out of sight
STEPS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION - national / world scoresheet
ILLEGAL SUPPLY TO CHILDREN

Tobacco in kids' faces: Australian convenience store and supermarket 2006

In Australia, there are 35,000 tobacco retail outlets - not just tobacconists but supermarkets, petrol stations, newsagents, bottle shops, convenience and corner stores.
Pricewaterhouse report May 2005, "Sales of Cigarettes and Tobacco Products by Type of Retail Business"

Exposure to retail displays predisposes children to smoke: see study in NEWS below

AIMS

These aims are endorsed by a growing list of children's, health, welfare, church, community and research organisations.  
See  current list of endorsements

These organisations would like to see in all states and territories:

- All tobacco products out of sight in all retail outlets.
See how tobacco displays look now - and how they could be put out of sight!  
See Summary factsheet      See Coles Myer's welcome move in Tasmania - ASH release 7/4/05   
Send an action email now to major supermarkets

- No staff under 18 to be allowed to be involved with selling tobacco.  
See  Why children should not sell tobacco

- A fully implemented  registration scheme for tobacco sellers (retailers and wholesalers), the fees funding seller education and proper compliance monitoring. Some states (SA, Tas) have such a scheme. See  The case for licensing tobacco sellers      See Licensing of Tobacco Retailers and Wholesalers: Desirability and Best Practice Arrangements - 2002 report to Commonwealth Health Dept

- Cars carrying children to be made smokefree.  SA and Tasmania have done this; NSW, Qld and WA have proposed it - other states are lagging. See factsheet on  Kids in smoky cars

ASH would also like to see...

- An end to devious tobacco promotion under different names. 
See some of Big Tobacco's latest dubious marketing ploys (and see our slideshow Tobacco marketing below the line)
 

NEWS

... FROM AUSTRALIA

NSW review considers  its position
1/7/08: Submissions have now closed for the NSW review of measures to protect children from tobacco - a report to cabinet expected in late July. ASH and many other groups and individuals called on the government to end tobacco promotion to children.  
See  review webpage    

40 groups call for effective action - as Philip Morris misleads retailers
28/5/08: On the even of World No Tobacco Day (May 31), ASH along with 40 organisations has called for effective action in all states and territories to end tobacco promotion to children.   See  ASH media release 29/5/08  

Meanwhile, tobacco giant Philip Morris has written to NSW retailers urging them to oppose getting tobacco out of sight in shops by law. Echoing the Mother of all Motherhood Statements (above), the letter says:  "We strongly support measures to prevent children... from smoking, but [our emphasis] the government's proposal to hide cigarettes is not the solution..." They don't say what is.   See Philip Morris letter and good critique of their arguments     More on  Why tobacco displays should be banned

Queensland to make cars carrying children smokefree
26/5/08: The Queensland government will legislate to make cars carrying children smokefree, among other measures.  See  Premier and Health Minister media release 26/5/08 

Ministers agree on national ban of fruity cigarettes by end of 2009
23/5/08: Australian Health Ministers at the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy have agreed that all states and territories will enact legislation to prohibit the sale of fruit- and confectionery-flavoured cigarettes by December 2009.  MCDS communique 23/5/08

ACT moves to end tobacco displays have community backing
An ACT government move to end shop tobacco display and make it harder to sell tobacco to children has strong community backing, despite ACT Opposition comments.  See  ASH media release 18/3/08  The bill would amend the ACT Tobacco Act to put all tobacco products totally out of sight in all retail outlets. Also included is a ban on rewards for smoking purchases, including FlyBuys and other points systems. See ABC news report 6/3/08 

Cigarettes keep selling - because they're still in our faces
5/3/08: Tobacco is top of the grocery sales lists, occupying the No. 1 spot and 6 of the top 7. The latest Nielsen survey shows how hard it is to reduce smoking rates while cigarettes are promoted at such high visibility.   See  ASH media release 5/3/08  

NSW bans mobile selling and fruity cigs, flags shop display and car smoke bans 
28/2/08: The NSW government has proposed a total ban on retail display and underage selling, licensing of sellers and mandatory smokefree cars carrying children. The government also banned mobile selling at youth music events, and fruit-flavoured cigarettes.  See  ASH media release 28/2/08

Study says displays undermine quitting... as Tas sets 3-year deadline
22/11/07: A new study has shown quit attempts are undermined by tobacco displays in shops - as Tasmania's parliament moves to end displays by February 2011.   See  ASH / Protecting Children for Tobacco media release 22/11/07 

Call for generic (plain) packaging
August 2007: A compelling case is being made for plain packaging of tobacco.   See 2007  report with illustrations

90% public support for smokefree cars carrying kids
25/7/07: Quit Victoria has urged the Victorian government to ban smoking in cars carrying children, after a Quit survey showed 90% public support for the measure. SA already has a ban in force, with other states expected to follow.  See Quit Vic media release 25/7/07  

Asthma study backs smokefree cars campaign
10/3/07: A new study published in the Medical Journal of Australia has shown teenagers risk of asthma is doubled by exposure to secondhand smoke in cars - the University of WA authors backing calls for banning smoking in cars carrying children.   See  ASH Australia media release 19/3/07  including link to the research

Company documents show retail as tobacco front line
Quit Victoria release 29/5/06 on new information exposing the relationship between the tobacco industry and retail lobby groups. The release draws on information published in Tobacco Control journal May 2006,  and follows story  in  Melbourne Age 29/5/06  

.... FROM OVERSEAS

Scotland plans smokefree future including protecting children
22/5/08: Displays of cigarettes in shops are set to become a thing of the past as part of the Scottish Government's continuing drive to stop smoking and tobacco promotion to children. See  Scottish government plan    Proposals include:

• Legislating to restrict display of tobacco products at points of sale;
• Updating statutory controls on tobacco sales, with a view to introducing licensing and sanctions such as cautions and fixed penalty notices;
• Considering issues surrounding outlawing the sale of cigarettes in packs of 10 and further steps to reduce underage sales from vending machines;
• Introducing a scheme for councils to more vigorously enforce tobacco sales laws;
• Cracking down on smuggled and counterfeit cigarettes;
• Considering moves towards plain packaging for cigarettes; and
• Stepping up education in schools and other settings.

World No Tobacco Day May 31 to highlight promotion to youth
April 2008: The World Health Organisation has made the theme of World No Tobacco Day 2008 on May 31 "The tobacco industry catches you young."   See  WHO's World No Tobacco Day 2008 site 

Study shows smoking in cars hazardous to health
20/3/08: A new study confirms that smoking in a car presents a serious health risk to occupants, especially children - and ventilation does not remove the hazard. The Canadian study from the University of Waterloo measured secondhand smoke levels after one cigarette was smoked in 18 different cars - and found the worst examples were more hazardous than indoor-smoky bars.    See  Canada TV report      See  full study  

New Zealand moves towards ending tobacco shop displays 
3/12/07: A review in NZ/Aotearoa proposes banning tobacco displays in shops. See NZ government discussion paper    Health groups will be pushing for:

• A ban on visual display of any tobacco products or imagery in retail outlets.
• A ban on the payment of tobacco "slotting [placement] fees" to retailers.
• A limit of one POP [point of purchase] location selling tobacco per shop.
• In-store display of large graphic health warnings, with Quitline phone numbers.
• Implementation of a self-funding Tobacco Retailer Licensing Scheme.

NZ retailers' misleading arguments:  NZ retailers are lobbying against a display ban - using flawed arguments contrary to independent research.  Look at the  retailer arguments  and then see  The truth about retailer claims 

RESOURCES                        

ASH  FACTSHEETS on Protecting Children from Tobacco: 
 
Brief 2-page  Summary  of the retail display issue
Why tobacco displays should be banned
The truth about retailer claims  misleading our governments
Leading adman says: Product display is advertising
No exceptions, no exemptions
Why children should not sell tobacco
The case for licensing tobacco sellers
Kids in smoky cars
Current list of endorsements  - national and NSW organisations supporting effective measures to protect children

See also our 2006 factsheet Tobacco Facts on retail display

Tear Down the Walls  
30/4/08 comment piece in the Ottawa Citizen makes a very good, reasoned analysis of why tobacco display "powerwalls" have so much impact on kids and why they should be removed.   See  the article 

Note:  the above video was made in 2006 and since then, the figure for the number of children smoking regularly has fallen - it is not now 205,000 but around 140,000. This sis still an appalling figure - and if every child smoker is one too many, then every square metre of tobacco display is a square metre too much.

RESEARCH EVIDENCE  for putting tobacco out of sight

Tobacco shop displays normalise tobacco and predispose children to smoke
Australian study from The Cancer Council Victoria shows how removing tobacco products from view would help reduce encouragement of kids to smoke.  See ASH media release 2/6/06  with link to study

A review of worldwide studies has confirmed significant tobacco display impact on smoking, especially for children.  See  preliminary review summary

Tobacco retail activity affects nearby school smoking rates
A Canadian study has found a link between retail tobacco activity - displays, lower prices - and the smoking rates in nearby schools. See the  study

Tobacco displays undermine quitting
An Australian study has shown quit attempts are undermined by tobacco displays in shops.   See  ASH / Protecting Children for Tobacco media release 22/11/07 

STEPS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION    See  Australian states chart  as at Nov.'07

TOBACCO DISPLAY:
  
Tasmania (see NEWS above) will end tobacco displays in shops by February 2011, with minor exemptions. The ACT (on March 6, 2008) introduced a bill to do the same, expected to come into effect much sooner.

NSW, NZ and Scotland (see NEWS above) have proposed similar bans. Qld, WA, SA and Tas have restricted display to one square metre. See Qld display law

In Tasmania, any shop displaying tobacco is required to show this graphic picture.  For Tasmania's law up to this point, see Guidelines for price tickets and other matters The mouth cancer image now required to be shown is at the end of the document       More on the Tas laws   

THEY'VE BANNED TOBACCO SHOP DISPLAYS... WHY CAN'T WE?

Two countries (Iceland, Thailand) eight Canadian provinces and territories, and one Australian jurisdiction (Tasmania) have adopted laws to prohibit the visible display of tobacco products at point of purchase. 

Two more Australian jurisdictions (ACT and NSW) and one more country (NZ) - as well as Scotland and several Canadian provinces - have proposed similar bans (see NEWS above for latest). The list of those with legislation already passed:

• Iceland (August 1, 2001)

• Thailand (September 24, 2005)

• Canada: 8 provinces: Saskatchewan*, Manitoba*, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Northwest Territories*, Nova Scotia and Quebec.   
  * applies to areas accessible to under-18s

• Tasmania (from February 2011)

Source:  ASH Australia, Canadian Cancer Society

LICENSING:   
SA, WA, Tas and ACT require tobacco sellers to be licensed. NSW has proposed the same.

CARS CARRYING CHILDREN SMOKEFREE:   
Already in force in SA and Tasmania; Queensland has committed to legislate and it's been proposed in NSW. WA and Victoria are also reported to be considering it.

ILLEGAL SUPPLY TO CHILDREN

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Page last updated 1/7/08