i am not posting this as a health issue but i am posting it as a "what the hell gives them the right etc?" issue

we all know smoking is bad for you but i find this ban ludicrous at best and downright insulting and patronising at worst-it appears that supermarkets now have to conceal all cigarettes because they may entice young people to take up smoking and to encourage smokers to quit altogether-the question is ask is how will this succeed in doing either?-a fair proportion of teenagers will try it anyway and some will carry on with it-it is their choice-smokers are not going to give up because a bit of cardboard has been placed across the display-they will just carry on anyway

if i want to smoke, drink alcohol and eat fatty foods every day, i am fully aware of the risks involved and it is my choice as to whether i do so or not-it is not, as far as i know, in the remit of anybody else or any other party on this planet to tell me how to live my life

if i wanted to give up smoking it would take a lot more than a bit of cardboard to do so

dave

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you and i, we have unfinished business
babe, you aint kidding

If that is the powers that be philosophy why not blindfold us all from birth to avoid seeing anything that may be unhealthy..........................to55ers!

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Intelligence is no guarantee of common sense.

If they succeed in stoping everybody from smoking where are they going to make up the massive tax shortfall that would arise. As you say it is a matter of choice and as it is not illegal then there is nothing to stop people smoking if they so desire. In all honesty it smacks of gross hypocrisy to try and stop people doing something that is legal whilst making massive tax revenues from it at the same time.

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We should all look up to teddy bears.

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Diamonds may be a girl's best friend - but chocolate is a woman's!

Agree with Arcto and Minnie.

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Time spent on things that make you happy is never wasted.

Quite agree, Dave. If they're going to ban the display of cigarettes then they should do the same with alcohol, and oblige pubs to take down their signs so that people dont know that they sell substances which can render you dangerous and stupid, make you violent and unreasonable and cause you to die a painful death from a variety of horrendous diseases.

Nanny State in all its yawn inducing, patronising glory.

Well at this rate give it a few more years and lets see where we're at.

They may be able to afford to lose the tax from cigarettes, but no way are they going to risk losing taxes from alcohol as well. And as for tax on petrol, well, just about the only conspiracy theory I give any credence to is that someone has invented a viable alternative to powering vehicles with hydrocarbon fuels, but theyve either been paid off by the oil companies to keep it off general sale or assassinated before they could market it.

I agree. I've never seen cannabis, or any other drug for that matter, openly advertised. Has that stopped people using them?!

The people who make up these rules live in Cloud Cuckoo Land.

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Always put off 'til tomorrow what you could have done today.

i absolutely agree with all your comments-to make things worse, if a member of staff in say Tescos has sold you 20 Marlboro and has then forgotten to slide the cover back into place, then he/she is subject to a maximum £3000.00 fine should an Enforcement Officer be present at the time this "horrendous" crime is taking place-should the member of staff sell 20 Marlboro to a customer who is knowingly underage, then the member of staff is subject to a maximum £5000.00 fine and an indeterminate jail sentence because obviously selling fags is about as serious a crime as you can commit

but it should be fairly easy to spot an Enforcement Officer-he will be wearing a cheap suit and shoes that do not match, have a comb-over, a serious expression, zero sense of humour, a clipboard (his weapon of choice!), an I.D.card of course, will not be open to bribes and/or suggestions of a sexual nature because he is still a virgin at 45 and will be accompanied by his assistant who is over 6' built and like a line-backer who will provide any "assistance" should anybody dare to question his authority

you watch in another five years you go into any supermarket and you will be faced with barriers everywhere because everything we eat, drink or smoke is bad for you

dave

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you and i, we have unfinished business
babe, you aint kidding