Discount tobacco store sparks uproar

A new cut-price tobacco store is under fire in Tauranga for promoting cheap cigarettes near the hospital and two schools.
Action on Smoking and Health says it is disappointed The Big Tobacco Discounter, on the corner of Cameron Rd and 16th Ave, has branded itself a discount outlet.
The shop has also been criticised by people who have contacted the  Bay of Plenty Times because of the store's closeness to Tauranga Hospital and schools, including Tauranga Boys' College and Tauranga Girls' College.
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) spokesman Michael Colhoun said the organisation's long-term plan was to get all cigarettes out of sight and under the counter.
He said this had already happened in a number of Australian states and other overseas countries, the theory being that people are less likely to smoke if they are not tempted by the product.
Mr Colhoun was disappointed to see the use of the word discount in the shop's title, although he did not believe this was illegal.
- Read more in today's Bay of Plenty Times