The province of Ontario recently banned cigarette displays behind the counter of convenience stores in an attempt to make smoking less appealing and tempting to kids. According to McGuinty, these displays have been shown to be effective at enticing kids, therefore if cigarettes are out of sight, they will be out of the minds of teens.As I read more about this ban, I kept wondering if this was truly worth the hype its getting in regards to its effectiveness in reducing teen smoking rates.
If you ask a teenager what motivates them to smoke, what do you suppose the answer will be? Would it be because he/she thinks its cool to smoke, feels peer pressure from his friends at school, or because when he was in the variety store he saw a display of cigarettes?
I feel that this ban addresses the tail end of the issue. All through my teen years I felt no motivation to smoke, therefore, the huge displays of cigarettes in variety stores did nothing to entice me. Wouldn't our time and money be better spent trying to understand what motivates teens to want to begin to smoke, and ask them what they think the best way to tackle this issue?
Just a thought....Comments?
