New smoking law bans cigarette machines from pubs

By Admin
Cigarette vending machines will be banned from all public areas of pubs, clubs, bars and restaurants under a new law which comes into play on Saturday...

Cigarette vending machines will be banned from all public areas of pubs, clubs, bars and restaurants under a new law which comes into play on Saturday.

The move from the Department of Health (DoH) is a bid to stop underage smoking in the UK, as it is estimated 46,000 children aged between 11 and 15 years old use the machines to buy tobacco.

However, pubs will still be able to sell cigarettes and tobacco from behind the bar after carrying out proof of age checks.

To read the latest edition of Healthcare Global, click here

The Government has been praised for the move, which some health campaigners described as “brave.”

The ban was planned and approved in 2009 and Gillian Merron, the Health Minister at the time, said: “The tobacco industry constantly recruits young people to replace those who give up smoking or die each year.”

The ban was the brainchild of Ian McCartney, a former Labour minister, who described cigarette vending machines as an “outrageous loophole in our country's safeguards' against tobacco.”

A fine of £2,500 has been introduced and any establishments that do not adhere to the new rules will have to pay the fee.

A company that owns approximately 20,000 cigarette machines, Sinclair Collis, protested against the ban,  arguing 550 jobs could lost and an industry worth £400 million would be lost.

It also criticised the government in the UK and DoH for not doing more to test technology solutions that would be able to implement age restrictions on the vending machines.

Our magazine is now available on the iPad. Click here to download it.

Share

Featured Articles

Comarch Diagnostic Point Boost for European Health Insurance

Healthtech specialist Comarch introduces Diagnostic Point, designed to improve health insurance across European markets

McKinsey: Women More Likely to die of Heart Attack Than Men

McKinsey Health Institute's Lucy Pérez says cardiovascular disease top killer of women yet physicians don't know their heart attack symptoms are different

Novo Nordisk Buys $1bn Cardior in CardioVascular Move

As Novo Nordisk expands into heart medicines, we profile the Danish pharma giant who in 1923 was the first to make insulin commercially available

Shoddy Chinese Syringes Sees BD Ramp-up Production

Procurement & Supply Chain

AI Tool 'Picks up Early-stage Breast Cancers Doctors Missed'

Technology & AI

AstraZeneca Buys $2bn Fusion in Next-gen Cancer Drugs Move

Medical Devices & Pharma