Queensland retailers will soon be banned from openly displaying cigarettes and other tobacco products in their stores.
Under laws to be introduced on Thursday, all retail advertising and promotion of tobacco and other smoking-related products will be banned.
Queensland retailers will soon be banned from openly displaying cigarettes and other tobacco products in their stores
Premier Anna Bligh says research has shown exposure to tobacco promotion at the point of sale, particularly for children, normalises smoking and can make people more likely to take up the habit, or experiment.
She says it can also interfere with smokers’ attempts to quit, tempting them to impulse buy.
‘By banning the display we put a significant dent in that exposure,’ Ms Bligh told parliament.
‘But we also send a very clear message to big tobacco, we are taking responsibility for the future health of Queenslanders.
‘Our government is determined to prevent our next generation of Queenslanders (from being) among this toll of the dead and the ill from smoking.’
The new laws will toughen current legislation that already restricts tobacco displays to a square metre for general retailers and three square metres for specialist tobacconists.
The new laws will be introduced to parliament later on Thursday.
Smoking kills an estimated 3400 Queenslanders every year, with more than 30,450 people admitted to Queensland hospitals each year for smoking-related illnesses.
The total cost of smoking to Queensland society, including loss of productivity and premature death, is $6.3 billion each year.
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