Editorial: Sense needed on cigs

There are calls for a ban on tobacco sales from dairies and in areas near schools.

When I was a teenager, trying to fund my cigarette habit was tricky.

I didn't smoke all the time, so being able to buy a small packet of cigarettes suited me just fine.

In those days, John Brandon 15s and Pall Mall 10s were sold, plus there was a nice man at the local fish and chip shop who would sell cigarettes for 30c each to us schoolkids before we snuck off to the reserve at lunchtime. For someone not earning regular money, it was perfect.

It's not surprising there are fresh calls now for shop owners to stop their illegal practice of selling individual cigarettes - something which reportedly happens in some dairies locally.

John Paul College principal Patrick Walsh told the Rotorua Daily Post the city needed to tackle retailers selling tobacco to minors, even in school uniform.

He said he had heard of shopkeepers selling individual cigarettes to school-age students.

Call me a hypocrite but this has to stop. It's illegal for a reason.

There are also calls for a ban on tobacco sales from dairies and in areas near schools. The Cancer Society social and behavioural research unit at Otago University said research found almost half of all New Zealand secondary schools were within 500m of a shop that sold tobacco, making tobacco too accessible.

While I'm all for dissuading teens from taking up the habit, this is going too far.

Such a ban would cause all sorts of problems for shop owners. Tobacco sales contribute to their bottom lines.

As long as shop owners are ensuring they are selling whole packets of cigarettes and checking IDs, their job is done.