NSW schools are surrounded by shops selling cigarettes says a state health department analysis, which found a higher density of tobacco retailers around schools than other areas.
The study, the first of its kind in Australia, found there are 34 percent more places to buy cigarettes nears schools than in neighbourhoods without schools. The analysis of more than 3000 schools found there are slightly more retailers near high schools than primary schools.
But it appears unlikely the state government will restrict the number or placement of these retailers, despite the alarming figures prompting the Health Minister to set up a taskforce to review regulations.
In a letter sent to the tobacco industry funded Alliance of Australian Retailers (AAR) this month, the parliamentary secretary of regional and rural heath Melinda Pavey said the taskforce had concluded "the current licensing scheme and other regulatory strategies are appropriate". In NSW retailers that sell cigarettes are required to notify with the Ministry of Health via an online form.
The authors of the health ministry report said the high density of shops selling cigarettes is particularly concerning given other research has found 80 percent of current smokers took up their habit before they turned 20.
"It is also known that the more tobacco retailers there are surrounding a school, the more likely young smokers are to buy their own cigarettes and those who buy their own cigarettes are more likely to smoke regularly," the report stated.
However, smoking rates among adolescents have more than halved over the past three decades. Between 1984 and 2011 the number of 12 to 17 year old males who smoke fell from 23.9 per cent to 7.9 per cent, while the number of young females reduced from 30.9 per cent to 7 per cent.
Following the release of the report Cancer Council NSW has called for the state government to introduce a licensing scheme, similar to the state's alcohol licensing system, to restrict the number of tobacco retailers in specific areas and their hours of operation.
"At the moment anybody can sell tobacco from their business, those businesses can be anywhere and there's no limit on the hours they can operate to sell tobacco," said the council's policy and advocacy manager Anita Tang.
She said the government had done great work to reduce the public's demand for cigarettes by educating people on the dangers and introducing plain packaging but not enough had been done to curb the supply of cigarettes.
University of Sydney Professor of Public Health Simon Chapman✓ said the density of stores selling tobacco near schools was "disturbing", but it was simplistic to think reducing the number just around schools would solve the problem. Instead, there should be greater restrictions on where cigarettes can be sold anywhere, he said.
AAR spokesman Craig Glasby said mixed businesses liked to be located near schools because the extra customers were good for business.
"Mums and dads pick up their kids from school and then they come to the shop and buy milk, bread, everything," he said.
Mr Glasby said restricting the number of retailers that could sell cigarettes would have serious financial consequences for the businesses that missed out on a licence. Retailers were already required to keep cigarettes out of shoppers' sight and faced hefty fines for selling cigarettes to minors, he said.
But a 2013 Cancer Council NSW audit of cigarette retailers found about one in four were in breach of the requirements, including notifying the health department their business sold tobacco.
In November last year, Health Minister Jillian Skinner established the NSW Taskforce on Tobacco Retailing, which included the state's cancer agency, the chief health officer, independent medical groups and tobacco retailers, for advice on whether the existing notification scheme is working.
While the taskforce's report will not be released to the public until after the state election, the letter sent to the AAR by Ms Pavey suggests the government does not plan to introduce restrictions that reduce the number shops that sell cigarettes.
Ms Pavey wrote that while the government was committed to reducing the harm from tobacco, "the Taskforce did not find evidence to support placing restrictions on the number or placement of tobacco retailers at this time."
When asked whether the government would accept the taskforce's advice Ms Skinner told Fairfax Media the government "is considering the NSW Taskforce on Tobacco Retailing's report in light of the statutory review of the Public Health (Tobacco) Act 2008, which will be tabled in the next session of Parliament" when it resumes in May after the state election on March 28.
Youth need help to avoid deadly smoking habit
Cigarettes lead to ill health and social exclusion, writes Rizina Yadav.
When I see my peers make the 700-metre trek from my school to the nearest tobacco retailer it saddens me that such a dangerous habit lies at the fingertips of curious, impressionable youth.
They often sit together, huddled in groups on the grey pavement just outside the tobacco retailer. Wisps of smoke emerge from their mouths as they chat excitedly, hiding themselves from the glaring eyes of passers-by. Their friends cheer them on and more join to experiment with smoking.
People who smoke are setting themselves up for a lifetime of hospital beds, endless sacrifices, missed moments with loved ones and lives cut tragically short.
As young people we believe we are invincible. We think that if we smoke it will not affect us now, but decades later, when it supposedly won't even matter. Having a retailer so close to our school encourages our misconception, putting our future at grave danger.
After starting to smoke, many young people begin withdrawing themselves from their family, teachers and schoolwork, only mixing with peers who share their habit.
I have witnessed youth smoking and its devastating effects on many of my friends and classmates.
Cigarettes are legal, but are they the entry drug into a life of limitations, social exclusion and ill health.
While cigarette smoking might seem exhilarating to my generation because it is perceived as making us fearless and bold, 40 years later we are anything but fearless and bold. We are frail and broken.
The statistics paint a distressing story, with more than 63 per cent of vulnerable youth in NSW taking up this pernicious habit. But the personal stories I have gathered show that we, youth, desperately need your help to ensure we never take up smoking. We are often too naïve and reckless to realise that the decisions we make now will impact us every step of the way.
I witness on a daily basis how accessibility to cigarettes encourages youth to take up smoking, which is why I am delighted to hear that the Cancer Council is calling on our future government to introduce a licensing scheme that reduces the number of tobacco retailers and ensures they are not located anywhere near schools.
Studies show that the more tobacco retailers there are surrounding a school, the more likely young smokers are to buy their own cigarettes, and that those who do so are more likely to smoke regularly.
If an individual starts smoking at a young age, it becomes more and more difficult for them to quit.
With this initiative, though, we can reduce accessibility to cigarettes and ensure youth choose the right path. The positive ramifications of this policy are clear.
I call upon you, our parliamentarians and representatives, to make the right decision for the future of my generation.
I plead on behalf of the youth of today – do not allow the cigarette industry to ruin our lives.
Rizina Yadav is a youth ambassador for Cancer Council, NSW.
