Cigarettes and Tobacco News

Jun 3, 2007 -- When the province announced earlier this year its plans to dismantle cigarette displays from stores, there weren’t too many who thought it was a bad idea since out of sight, out of mind may help convince smokers to quit and help prevent those who’ve quit from starting again.

What most don’t realize though in their rush to support the anti-tobacco campaign was the hardship changes to the Tobacco Access Act are going to have on small businesses.

Removing cigarettes from view is a good thing if it reduces smoking. But, not surprisingly, store owners are concerned over the security risk this may provide. It would tempting to a potential thief to pull out a weapon or assault a storeclerk as he or she bends over to pull cigarettes from under the counter or turns their back to open a drawer and search for a product.

At the same time, it’s going to be very difficult for many of the smaller retailers to afford to make the renovations to be allowed to sell tobacco products.

While government knows it can’t outlaw smoking, it does know it can reduce tobacco sales by making it nearly impossible for small retailers to sell them. This may make sense to most, but for storeowners it could be the difference between staying in business and closing the doors.

There’s no question power walls have to go, but as long as tobacco is hidden from view and workers’ safety isn’t compromised that should be good enough.

Unfortunately this is just another hurdle for small business operators to overcome and it’s only a matter of time before someone pays a heavy price with their health or their life.