Coventry to ban cigarette machines

CIGARETTE machines will be banned under ambitious plans to halve the number of smokers in the West Midlands by 2020.
One in five adults in the region smoke, down from nearly one third in 1998.
The government wants to slash that to one in ten within a decade.
This week health secretary Andy Burnham revealed the boldest package of smoking reforms to date.
They include:
*Paying more overseas officers to stop fake fags reaching the streets of Coventry and Warwickshire where they are sold to teenagers.

*Offering a wider range on the NHS to help smokers quit.Banning tobacco vending machines where many underage smokers buy their cigarettes.“We are looking forward to a smoke free future for the next generation.”
Mr Hooper said helping people to go smoke free would also give them more money to spend in the local economy. That would create more jobs across the region.
Coventry and other parts of the West Midlands, but not Warwickshire, are taking an extra step by launching tariffs. It means stop smoking services will be paid for every smoker they help quit.
Contractors, possibly including major supermarkets, are due to be named before the scheme launches in April and if it proves a success it could be rolled out nationwide.
Research shows seven out of every ten smokers want to stop and NHS chiefs want it to become as easy to get help as it is to buy cigarettes.
Smoking kills 80,000 and costs the NHS £2.7 billion each year.