Regulating tobacco sales in pubs and shops is supposed to protect children from harm. Janet Hood argues that restricting our freedom simply avoids tackling the poverty and unemployment that are really to blame.

Well – those of you who know me will certainly be aware that I am all for a healthy lifestyle. I have in my time been to the gym, gone to an aerobics class and once spectacularly, in an attempt to teach my then six year old son how to dive, fallen off a springboard. I haven’t noticed much change. I’m still getting older but the one thing I can say is that on each occasion I embarked on a keep fit course, I believed I could make a difference to my general health and appearance.  The one thing I have succeeded in doing is stopping smoking and I am singularly proud of that achievement. All praise to the Allen Carr Easy Way course – not one available on the NHS despite having the highest level of success of all smoking cessation methods. Why not I ask? Well probably because -unlike drug companies - they don’t fund jollies.

The Scottish Government is quite rightly determined to reduce harm caused by smoking and has instituted a number of measures. No smoking in enclosed public places being one. Now I like going into smoke free places and was astounded on a recent trip to Belgium that smoking was still permitted in bars - golly it really makes your clothes pong.

So what’s next? Well yet again they are determined to hit an obvious target, the licensed trade. Perhaps they should wear arm bands.  Most of you will know that the licensed trade as a whole has had a very tough time recently as they fought for the right to sell alcohol under the new regime. They have just collectively spent approximately £60 million on the transition, most of these costs being caused by the unwarranted levels of bureaucratic compliance required by the new Act. And this in an era where we have a better regulation team at Holyrood who, when asked whether the bureaucratic burden could be reduced, advised us that we had best refer ourselves to the originators of the legislation.

So we now have a tobacco bill which if passed will result in persons who sell cigarettes having to be registered (no note on cost yet) cigarette machines being removed from on sales premises and open displays of cigarettes being removed from shops.

For the on trade to be truthful this will make little difference to the bottom line, although I am sure most licensees do not relish the thought of having to pay a registration fee on top of all their other annual costs.

However it is another area of sales which will be removed and may have an effect beyond the mere sale of tobacco; it may deter the smoker from coming onto the pub for a packet of cigs and a pint.  

A number of test purchases took place across the country where children were given money to purchase cigarettes from current vending machines. They succeeded and if nothing were done this would persuade all of us to accept the likelihood of harm.

Vending machine producers have come up with what seems to me to be a very clever solution. They have produced radio frequency control devices which bar staff would use to permit sales, only after the age of the customer has been verified by photograph driver’s licence, passport or young Scot card. The frequencies change on an irregular basis to prevent misuse by “hams” and the operation seems to be very secure.  However will it persuade our government?  If the aim is to reduce harm to children it should.

In shops however it is going to be much worse. Small convenience store and rural shop owners have found it very difficult to afford to enter the new licensing regime. It is now proposed that they remove all cigarettes from open display. Most of these displays are behind the counter and their removal will probably require the hapless merchant to re-configure his store thereby requiring a variation of liquor licence. What about the fags? Well they could be left where they are behind a curtain (yes it is very “dirty pictures” isn’t it?), or placed in a drawer or box under the counter. I can see the bad back injury claims already. There are more sophisticated methods but these will be beyond the purse of many small operators. Most people will just start to buy their smokes in 200s in the supermarkets. This will be the final blow to many small businesses.

It is believed that more than 1/3 of all cigarette sales in the UK are illegal. I believe that hiding the product will lead many teenagers to consider that smoking must be even more desirable. Where are people smoking? At home or on the street: is that a good example for kids or what?  

Why is this necessary? Will it make a difference? Is it all in the interests of preventing children purchasing cigarettes and thus preventing harm? This is of course is a laudable aim. However all licensed premises staff have been trained to among other things know when to ID apparent underaged persons so there should be less opportunity for kids to buy fags. Is it another way for Scotland to lead the way in public health? What about the risk to health caused by poverty and unemployment a spectre facing not a few small businesses in today’s over regulated world.

These proposals if they become law will result in another unnecessary slice off the salami of business Scotland. Is it another slice off the salami of personal freedom? Probably. What’s next?