Cigarettes and civil liberties: enough is enough

Thursday March 27, 2008

Proposal to ban the display of cigarettes in shops gets a cool response from the British media

The suggestion by health minister Dawn Primarolo that cigarettes may no longer be displayed in shops has been roundly criticised.

“Whether it’s drinking, smoking, or even driving a decent car, the Government just can’t wait to target our every pleasure,” commented the Daily Star (March 25). “Now it says it would be clever to ban cigarettes from display altogether. If ministers continue to try to micro-manage our lives, they may soon see their plans for the next election go up in smoke.”

According to the Daily Mail (March 25), Primarolo’s “latest absurd proposal … is more about obsessive interfering than protecting public health … In fact, making smoking even more illicit might encourage some to try it out, as an act of rebellion.”

The Independent (March 25) agreed. Removing cigarettes and tobacco products from view might introduce an additional element of desirability. “By all means require cigarettes to be kept beyond reach behind the counter … So long as tobacco – and, for that matter, alcohol – are legal, however, it is ridiculous to suggest that there should be a ban on displaying them.

“Temptation and choice are integral to marketing and consumption in the modern world. Coping with that is part of being an adult.”

Daily Mail columnist Richard Littlejohn was as forthright as ever (March 24). “Even though only around one in five people still smokes, the figures aren’t falling fast enough for the health fascists. These people never stop dreaming up new ways to bully and inconvenience the rest of us. So small shopkeepers will have to behave like purveyors of hardcore pornography when it comes to selling cigarettes.

“I can’t see for the life of me why a perfectly legal product can’t be sold on open display to consenting adults. The Government hasn’t got the courage to ban smoking altogether. Gordon likes the tax too much. So the battle goes on incrementally.”

Writing in the Daily Express Vanessa Feltz (March 25) commented: “If this notion is enshrined in law … an entirely legal product will be sold covertly, as if it were a wrap of cocaine or a gun. All the while, the Government will be happily creaming its substantial tax cut off every single sale.

“The Government,” she added, “actually seems to believe that if you can’t physically see a cigarette packet, the idea of smoking won’t occur to you … Contrary to the Government’s view, walking into a shop and asking for cigarettes which are not openly on sale is not beyond the wit or ingenuity of any smoker, underage or superannuated.”

Fergus Shanahan in The Sun (March 25) agreed. “Does Dawn [Primarolo] really think kids start smoking just because they see cigs behind a shop counter? Most likely they will buy them on the street, where they might get some crack and cannabis into the bargain. Meanwhile, since it is still legal to smoke, Labour should get their noses out of people’s lives.”

In another article in The Sun (March 25), Neil Rafferty of Forest wrote, “The Government is moving towards criminalising a perfectly legal product … But I am starting to detect a change in public opinion. I’m seeing more non-smokers saying, ‘This is going too far’. They can see where it’s heading. This is health fascism and if we don’t stand up to it now it will be booze and food next.”

The Daily Mirror’s star columnist Sue Carroll pointed out (March 26) that “The number of teenagers who smoke has risen, despite graphic images of diseased lungs on packets, a £25million government advertising campaign pointing out the evils of nicotine and a ban on smoking in public places.

“So why should removing cigarettes from displays in shops make any difference? Public Health Minister Dawn ‘Of The Dread’ Primarolo think sit will discourage kids – so we can dismiss that as meaningless. Doesn’t she understand this new Stalinism makes smoking as irresistible as banging on the door of a speakeasy?”