Sarah Waters tried her first cigarette at 11-years-old, pinched from her dad’s packet.
By 13, she was smoking regularly, and within a few months, she was addicted.
“When I started smoking, there was no information about the dangers,” she said.
“It was actually advertised in teenage magazines … all the movie stars, models had them. It was cool, it was prestigious.”
Ms Waters said she tried everything, but when cigarettes were so easy to get a hold of — in supermarkets, corner stores, service stations and at tobacconists — the temptation was hard to deny.
It’s this reason why the Lung Foundation is calling for a crackdown.
Bid for supermarket ban
The foundation wants the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products banned from major supermarkets.
Lung Foundation Australia chief executive Mark Brooke said accessibility is one of the major reasons people continue to smoke.
“By removing as many of those points of sale or limiting those points of sale, is a really important part of the solution. It’s not the solution, but it’s an important part of the solution,” Mr Brooke said.
“Putting profit ahead of the community’s health is something that the foundation is asking all good corporate citizens to reconsider.”
Ms Waters said she backed any measure that could deter people from continuing to smoke or take it up.
“If you are at the shops and they are there you can just say, ‘It will be my last packet,'” she said. “If it is not there then I think it would be the extra barrier to help someone quit.”
Mr Brooke said smoking rates nationwide have decreased dramatically — only about 10 per cent of the population now smokes.
But he said the time to clamp down was now, with an explosion in the number of venues selling cigarettes and tobacco products.
“Some of those are operating illegally, but some of those also have licenses,” he said.
$20m of illegal cigarettes and vapes seized
Researchers said the fear that restricting access to cigarettes could feed the booming illegal tobacco trade in Australia was “real” but would likely only affect those who were already suffering from addiction.
“As a prevention tactic, I think it’s a fantastic idea,” Griffith University marketing research fellow James Durl said.
“The idea of a tactic like this is to keep it out of sight and out of hands of people who haven’t started smoking.”
In Queensland this month, health authorities seized illegal cigarettes and vapes with an estimated street value of about $20.8 million, in what it’s calling its biggest raids in history.
“It’s only going to affect those people who were smoking for starters,” Dr Durl said.
“For those people who are smoking, and are desperately looking for a cigarette, and they have to go to a different place, I think as long as it’s still legal and you’re able to get it from say, a tobacconist specifically, [people won’t necessarily turn to illegal operators].”
Dr Durl said restricting access is just a small step in the decades-long fight to stamp out tobacco use.
“This isn’t talking about a ban — they’re not becoming illegal,” he said.
“[This idea is] just trying to put a delay, a buffer, between the urge to have a smoke and the actual purchasing of a smoke.”
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said the government passed laws in 2023 to “reignite the fight” against tobacco.
“Under the Tobacco Act, a range of new graphic health warnings, health promotion inserts, and on-product health messages have been developed.
“They have been informed by research and improved during rounds of market testing with smokers, to ensure they are effective, have impact and maximise engagement.”
Mr Butler did not comment on whether his government would support banning major supermarkets from selling cigarettes
In a statement, Coles said it complied with all legislation around minimising the health impacts of tobacco use, “however we recognise the need to provide choice to those customers who wish to purchase these products legally”.
Woolworths was contacted for comment but did not reply by deadline.
‘Don’t give up’ on calling quits
After 27 years of attempts, Sarah Waters finally found her reason to quit. Like many, it was her health that was the final straw.
“I couldn’t enjoy life, like every time I laughed, I’d go into a coughing fit. It became anti-social, and it got really expensive as well,” she said.
It’s been 11 years since her last cigarette. Now she spends the money she saves on them on overseas holidays.
Her advice to those wanting to quit is not to give up.
“I tried patches, I tried gum, I tried hypnosis, I tried several different types of medication, I tried cold turkey, I tried fad exercise diets, and I finally found the thing that worked for me which was a medication prescribed from the doctor,” Ms Waters said.
“Use whatever resource you can, just to keep going. And surround yourself with people who want you to give up as well.”
This idea is another well intentioned load of rubbish. Marihuana is not sold in supermarkets but it’s use has increased dramatically so getting tobacco out of supermarkets will not cut it’s use but it will further erode the loss of taxation revenue the government receives from legal sales.
People will simply do what they have been doing with dope for decades…either grow their own or buy it from their dealer or online. The government is missing out on billions of dollars it could make from regulating and taxing marihuana and they are losing on tobacco now too because they made the excise so high most smokers will not or can not afford to pay it.
I agree with David, also, all the misinformation and the way it is put out there, they should be saying smoking might cause the illnesses instead of saying it does cause them, because the way it’s stated at the moment, everyone who smokes or even used to smoke should have the illnesses.
Sick & tired of all this rhetoric about smoking and interviews with smokers that can’t stop blah, blah, blah.
Yes, it’s proven that it’s bad for your health and is a killer for so many. But remember many high profile people were very well paid and lied to too advertise tobacco company products. Even politicians were lobbied by tobacco companies for support & backing. I wonder how many politicians received benefits for supporting these companies?
Banning tobacco products from supermarkets will only force people to buy more under the counter illegal products further reducing tax for the government and feeding organised crime syndicates.
The government really needs to look at the tax on tobacco as all it is doing is increasing crime and making bigger profits for organised crime and a lot of these syndicates are of shore so even harder to catch the king pins.
Would be interesting to see how much of the tobacco tax actually goes towards education, support groups, etc. about the health issues associated with smoking. How much is the government spending on free medications etc.?
I’m also an ex smoker. Went cold turkey over 30 years ago.
I also agree with David Ryder’s comments.
Cigarette are legal – so why should supermarkets not sell them legally?
Why doesn’t the Sarah Waters and ABC News try targeting the illegal tobacco sellers first? Is it because they’re scaredy cats who only like punishing the low hanging fruit.
Increasing the price of cigarettes by increasing the Tax, does not translate into a reduction of the number of cigarettes a person who is addicted, smokes.
In the current environment, what it means is, the purchase of cigarettes from a tobacconist, Supermarket etc, and pay the full exorbinant , or find and purchase the Black Market ones for about 25% of the price.
EG: an acquaintance noted that a Packet of 40 cigarettes was approx $80+ from the “legal” outlets but the same packet was approx $20- from alternative outlets !!!
If the Government want to shut down the illegal/black market in cigarettes, it needs to reduce the excessive Taxes on the “Legal” Trade !!