Northern Ireland ban cigarette vending machines
From the beginning of March 2012, cigarettes will no longer be available from vending machines in Northern Ireland.
According to health minister Edwin Poots, removing cigarette vending machines is an important milestone towards achieving a tobacco-free society and will bring Northern Ireland in line with the rest of the UK.
Poots is hoping that the move will help to reduce the number of children and young people who smoke by taking away these unsupervised machines.
He said, “A survey in Northern Ireland in 2010 highlighted that for 14% of smokers aged between 11 and 16 years, cigarette vending machines are a usual source of tobacco”.
Whilst Poots acknowledged that removing the vending machines would not solve the problem of children smoking in its entirety, it will remove an accessible source of tobacco for children who are underage as well as removing temptation from all of the individuals who endeavour to quit each year.
Cigarette vending machines were banned in England back in October 2011, with Wales set to introduce a ban in February this year and Scotland announcing it’s intentions to do the same in the coming months.
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