Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King's intention not to subsidise the sale of tobacco from his stores is a welcome one ("Sainsbury boss rejects rumours of plan to quit", The Herald, November 15).
Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King's intention not to subsidise the sale of tobacco from his stores is a welcome one (\"Sainsbury boss rejects rumours of plan to quit\", The Herald, November 15).
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The commercial reasoning for this decision can be matched by strong ethical arguments.
Tobacco is not a normal product. With at least 250 toxic chemicals, it is as addictive as heroin, implicated in one in four deaths in Scotland and kills half of its long-term consumers. Any other substance like this would likely be banned. But tobacco has one million regular users in Scotland, two-thirds of whom started before they were 18 and 69% of whom say they want to quit. So efforts to encourage people to quit and reduce the harm caused by tobacco efforts have focused on regulation and taxation.
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Reassessing our view of tobacco
Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King's intention not to subsidise the sale of tobacco from his stores is a welcome one ("Sainsbury boss rejects rumours of plan to quit", The Herald, November 15).
The commercial reasoning for this decision can be matched by strong ethical arguments.
Tobacco is not a normal product. With at least 250 toxic chemicals, it is as addictive as heroin, implicated in one in four deaths in Scotland and kills half of its long-term consumers. Any other substance like this would likely be banned. But tobacco has one million regular users in Scotland, two-thirds of whom started before they were 18 and 69% of whom say they want to quit. So efforts to encourage people to quit and reduce the harm caused by tobacco efforts have focused on regulation and taxation.
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We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.
Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.
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