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Canada: Ontario bans tobacco display walls

Ontario has joined a growing number of jurisdictions in making cigarette displays a thing of the past.

Smokers will now be given a binder to choose their favourite brand and won't be allowed to touch the cigarettes before paying for them.

Michael Perley, director of the Ontario Campaign for Action on Tobacco said, "To us, it addresses the fundamental insanity of selling the number 1 preventable cause of disease and death (alongside) sweets and gum."

Quebec's tobacco display ban is also set to come into force, while Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, and Prince Edward Island all have similar bans in place.

Independent convenience stores could face a $250 fine if they're caught displaying cigarettes after the deadline. In extreme cases, they could face a $4,000 fine for a first offence while corporations can face fines of up to $10,000.

Requirements outline rules for how many packs of cigarettes the new cabinets can reveal. Garage door-style cupboards, curtains, or blinds that could be opened to display the entire inventory are forbidden. The government suggests under-the counter drawers or overhead compartments that are only visible from behind the counter.

Sue Qin, the owner of Toronto's Peng Convenience, plans to block the display with paper until the cabinets that she ordered are delivered.

Qin added, "I don't know why the government wants to do this. It will hurt business. I think it's a stupid rule. I don't think the rule will stop people from smoking."

Jeffrey Gottheil, president of J. Gottheil Marketing Communications, doesn't agree.

"Tobacco companies pay retailers $300,000 a year to display their products and power walls are extremely influential, especially for children," Gottheil said.

As part of a 2006 study commissioned by the Non-Smokers' Rights Association, Gottheil asked 2,000 school kids from non-smoking homes what they knew about cigarettes.

He said, "They knew everything. They knew colours, they knew brands, they knew where they were available, they knew how much they were. And they all mentioned convenience stores, convenience stores, convenience stores."

To Perley, the ban is about protecting public health. He thinks that small businesses will continue to sell cigarettes, regardless of whether they're prominently displayed behind the counter.

Source: The Canadian Press, 4th June 2008
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