New Zealand: Call for Ban on Tobacco Sales at Dairies

Source from:  TVNZ 08/21/2013

The Government should consider banning dairies from selling cigarettes, Otago University researchers say.

Research by the university tracks tobacco retailers for the first time, revealing their prevalence near schools and in poorer neighbourhoods.

It shows nearly half of schools are within 500 metres of a shop selling tobacco.

It also shows that, the higher the level of poverty in a community, the more likely it is to have easy access to cigarettes.

While the research does not establish a causal link between schools, poverty, smoking and tobacco retailers, researchers argue that reducing availability will curb smoking.

The researchers recommend introducing tobacco licensing, similar to a liquor licence, which could be followed by more severe restrictions including banning some shops, such as dairies, from selling tobacco.

Convenience stores, including dairies, make up about 40 per cent of more than 5000 tobacco retailers.

Other options suggested include restricting tobacco sales to pharmacies and tobacconists, and creating smokefree "zones" around schools.

The research was conducted by the Cancer Society social and behavioural research unit at Otago University. It was funded by the society, which strongly advocates stronger tobacco restrictions.

The proposals were not popular with Wellington convenience store owners yesterday.

Strathmore Food Market is only a few hundred metres from Scots College in Strathmore Park, and sells both alcohol and tobacco. Owner Amarat Govind recently obtained a liquor licence and groaned at the thought of going through the same process for tobacco. "It is just a waste of time," he said.

An outright ban for convenience stores or retailers near schools would achieve nothing. "If people want to smoke, they will buy a pack of smokes - if not here, then somewhere else."

He did not sell tobacco to children under 18, which made his location near a school irrelevant, he said. "They [pupils] don't even bother. They know they are not going to get them."

In Mt Cook, Jalas corner dairy sits near Wellington High School and many of its customers are students.

Hitesh Patel, whose family owns the dairy, said students sometimes tried to buy cigarettes, with some even doctoring their driver's licences to bump up their age, but none succeeded.

Banning some retailers from selling cigarettes but not others would simply push customers elsewhere, he said.

But Skye Kimura-Paul, of the Cancer Society, said availability was like advertising, making it harder for smokers to quit and easier for newcomers to pick up the habit.

The density of tobacco retailers in poor areas and near schools pointed to a strategy of targeting the most vulnerable and potential new customers, she said.

The Government has introduced several measures, including tax rises and display restrictions, to reduce the appeal of tobacco.

The Ministry of Health's senior adviser for tobacco control, Brendon Baker, said options raised by the research were not being considered now, but could be in the future. Enditem