Pub fag machines face the chop
Cigarette vending machines in pubs could be banned under new Government proposals unveiled today.
The new five-year Cancer Reform Strategy said the Government would consult on banning tobacco vending machines.
The strategy states: "Smoking is the single largest preventable risk factor for cancer.
"As well as maintaining the high price of tobacco and taking action to reduce the availability of illicit tobacco, the Government will consult during Spring 2008 on proposals for the next steps in tobacco control and the further regulation of tobacco products, including the display of tobacco at the point of sale, access to tobacco from vending machines and packaging."
The Government has been put under pressure to ban vending machines from the likes of ASH, Cancer Research and the British Heart Foundation (BHF).
A spokesman for the BHF said: "Statistics show that more than 1 in 6 children who are regular smokers usually buy their cigarettes from machines across the UK – this equates to a staggering 52,500 children regularly buying cigarettes in this way."
Other Government plans on smoking include downsizing tobacco counters and possibly displaying pictures of diseased lungs at the point of purchase.
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