Hiding cigs not the answer to smoking problem

Sep 22 2008 by Barry Gibson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

HIDING THE CIGGIES ‘NOT THE ANSWER’

BANNING cigarette displays will not cut teenage smoking, a Huddersfield shopkeeper has warned.

Clr Mohammad Sarwar, who owns Fair Price on Newsome Road, is against Government plans to force newsagents to keep cigarettes under the counter.

Ministers believe it is another way of improving health.

But Clr Sarwar said: “This would not stop young people smoking but it would put shopkeepers at risk of attack, as we would have to bend down to get to the cigarettes.”

Clr Sarwar, who represents Crosland Moor and Netherton on Kirklees Council, said other Huddersfield newsagents felt the same way.

He said: “When I speak to other shopkeepers at the cash and carry I never hear anyone who is in favour of this idea.”