What do smokers actually think?

Health groups are saying the commercial self-interest of those backed by the tobacco industry needs to be set aside if we are to make gains against a disease that annually is responsible for 10 times the number of the deaths that occur on our roads.

Following on from the rise in tobacco tax, other moves are being formulated to further reduce the impact of smoking-related diseases. Many different organisations have just finished making submissions to the Maori Affairs health select committee.

The committee's focus is gathering evidence on the effect of tobacco on Maori communities and to consider the vision of a tobacco-free New Zealand in the future.

The Ministry of Health has also called for submissions on one particular strategy - the issue of removing tobacco displays in retail outlets. Several organisations are working to protect children from a tobacco addiction that, on average, starts below 15 years of age.

Removing these displays is part of a range of measures that will achieve this goal. Opposition from retailer organisations and tobacco companies is designed to protect turnover and profits.

So what do smokers actually think? Most smokers support putting tobacco under the counter, because they do not want their children to smoke.

Smokers themselves won't be particularly affected by this move. They will still be able to buy tobacco at their local store or any of the usual outlets around town.

Just as they do now, customers will be able to ask for their preferred brand which will be kept in a drawer under the counter or perhaps on a covered shelf.

Many supermarkets have been selling cigarettes this way for years. What the tobacco industry is really worried about is how things will change over time. These displays are ubiquitous and they exist because they work as a de facto marketing tool.

In the near future our children will not see colourful and eye-catching displays of cigarettes sitting on the shelves next to the lollies every time they visit the dairy.

Smokers who are trying to quit will find the job a little easier when they aren't confronted by shelves full of cigarettes each time they pay for their petrol or go to buy their milk and bread.