Bristol MP backs cigarette vending machines ban
Bristol East MP Kerry McCarthy has backed a ban on cigarette machines in pubs.
The move was agreed in the House of Commons as part of a new Health Bill.
Ms McCarthy said: "We don't sell alcohol, fireworks or other dangerous products in vending machines. Why should it be any different for cigarettes?
"They are disproportionately used by children and this ban would protect them from the easy access to a fatal habit that a vending machine provides."
According to a report of the British Heart Foundation, up to 23,000 11 to 15-year-old regular smokers get their cigarettes from vending machines.
The Government has already taken steps to cut the number of children taking up smoking by raising the legal age to purchase cigarettes to 18. But this does not stop them from being able to buy them from vending machines.
In 2008, 12 per cent of children who were regular smokers usually bought their cigarettes from vending machines.
Only five per cent of adult smokers use vending machines and then only occasionally.
The bill now has to be passed by the House of Lords before the ban can be enforced.
4 Comments
by Adam, Knowle
Saturday, October 17 2009, 7:52AM
“No evidence? No problem! I will be glad to see the back of this Government. So people choose to enjoy something that might not be good for their health. So what? Are you going to ban skateboarding next? Ban fishing in case we drown? Ban stamp collecting so paper cuts can be avoided? Will you please stop treating us all like idiots and let us choose how to live our own lives. If I am fully aware of how dangerous something can be before I try it, then it is up to me whether I decide to do so. Banning displays is missing the whole point - kids can't buy cigarettes from shops in the first place! By the way, I am a non-smoker and have never even tried it. How on earth did I escape all of those big shiny displays over the years.......”
by Jacqueline, BS1, Bedminster
Thursday, October 15 2009, 2:42PM
“What a farce. Children get their ciggies from their mates and from street sellers of counterfeit tobacco. They don't pay +£6 for a pack of 16 from a vending machine. But as far as Labour is concerned, let's not bother about adult freedoms - let's just BAN EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE! I can't wait to get this lot out. And by the way, Ms McCarthy, your voters are getting pretty fed up with you and your Twittering, blogging, media-focused desperate antics. Roll on the General Election. I'm so fed up with this Nanny Nanny government.”
by Ray Beam, BS1
Thursday, October 15 2009, 11:25AM
“Gotta be better then doing any actual work.
getting tied into a campaign that is entirely fruitless.
Looks good Kerry, but not on inspection as my esteemed colleague Pete has pointed out.”
by Pete, St. Anne's
Thursday, October 15 2009, 8:10AM
“I'm a bit confused about this story.
So MP Kerry McCarthy has backed a ban on cigarette machines in pubs, but what are children doing in pubs to be able to buy them?
The 2003 Licensing Act has four objectives:
¿ the prevention of crime and disorder
¿ public safety
¿ the prevention of public nuisance
¿ the protection of children from harm.
Therefore, my obvious question is: what are children doing in pubs to be able to obtain cigarettes in the first place?”