'Nicotine is addictive as heroin': Lung Foundation Australia calls for crackdown on sale of cigarettes at supermarkets
Australia's leading body for lung health is pushing the government to ban the sale of cigarettes from the nation's big supermarkets, in a bid to put health before profits.
Lung Foundation Australia CEO Mark Brooke has claimed it is "irresponsible" to allow people to purchase cigarettes with their milk and bread during weekly grocery shops.
'We need everyone from government to big corporations to put the lung health of Australians ahead of profits from a product that kills 66 Australians daily,' he said.
'Previous news reports have highlighted Coles estimates their cigarette sales each year is enough to kill more than 1,600 Australians and cause tobacco-related medical costs of more than $300 million a year."
Former tobacco addict Sarah Waters also joined the crackdown and shared she had been a smoker for 28 years, starting at the age of 13.
Ms Waters attributed her long-term addiction to the lack of restrictions prohibiting the sale of tobacco to underage people.
'It isn't easy to quit but not being able to buy cigarettes so easily would have made a big difference," she said.
"When I started smoking there was no age limits in place and they were marketed to young people as being cool."
Lung Foundation Australia has urged the government to restrict the number of tobacco retail outlets via their tobacco licensing schemes.
A new tobacco licensing scheme is set to take effect across New South Wales from July 1, requiring all tobacco retailers and wholesalers to have a license to sell tobacco and non-tobacco smoking products in the state.
In NSW it is also illegal for any retailers other than a pharmacy to sell any type of vaping good, regardless of its nicotine content.
"The federal government can support broader efforts by investigating the health and economic impacts of a generational phase out of tobacco products," Lung Foundation Australia said.
Associate Professor Henry Marshall compared nicotine addition to the same as heroine and suggested the only difference between the two, is the latter cannot be bought at a supermarket.
'People who smoke deserve more help from health professionals and the government. I would like to see people demand action from the multinational tobacco companies who have known smoking causes lung cancer since before 1954 and continued to sell products to make profit off Australians," he said.
"It is time we said, 'enough is enough'.
'It is hard to fight an addiction while also being able to buy tobacco products so easily.'
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