The parliament in Reykjavik is to debate a proposal that would outlaw the sale of cigarettes in supermarkets, service stations, duty-free shops and kiosks. Only pharmacies would be allowed to dispense cigarettes to customers with a valid medical certificate.
Under the mooted initiative, doctors will be encouraged to help addicts kick the habit with treatments and education programmes. If these do not work, only then they may give out prescriptions – and only to patients who commit to regular health checks.
Unlike other prescription products, cigarettes would not be subsidised, and would continue to be sold at their full market value, about 900kr (£4.90) in Iceland. But according to proponents of the bill, if each pack were priced according to the real cost of cigarettes to society (in healthcare, etc), they would actually retail at 3,000KR. A spokeswoman from the ministry of welfare said that the proposal was "very serious" but had limited chances of success.
2 comments:
I think it's fine for a society to try to discourage people from using or overusing recreational substances such as tobacco, alchohol and chocolate, but this would go too far. If the cost of cigarettes to society is your concern, then tax the damn things more instead of this bureaucratic bullshit that sounds like trying to bully smokers out of smoking.
^Well said.
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