Society wants Cigarettes hidden from view

The Cancer Society says it is incomprehensible that tobacco can be sold in the same way as bread and milk. The New South Wales State Government is proposing to remove tobacco products from open display and keep them behind counters and the society's tobacco control adviser Belinda Hughes says the idea should be adopted in New Zealand. Ms Hughes says positive anti-smoking initiatives include images on cigarette packages showing the consequences of smoking but shops have been used as a selling vehicle since other forms of advertising were banned in 1990. She says children should have the right to grow up without being influenced by tobacco marketing and it is society's responsibility to protect them from smoking.