A high number of tobacco retailers are located near Albury schools and the Cancer Council is warning parents it could make it easier for kids to experiment with smoking.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Figures from the NSW Ministry of Health found the number of businesses selling tobacco per 100,000 people in the Albury electorate was a third above the state average.
Community programs co- ordinator Cancer Council NSW South West Mel Nixon said students don’t have to walk far to find a place to buy cigarettes.
“Albury High and Albury Public are the two schools with the most shops surrounding them,” Mrs Nixon said.
“But it’s not their fault, it’s a retail issue.
“Almost 13 per cent of 16 to 17-year-olds in NSW report smoking in the past seven days, and 30 per cent of these smokers buy these cigarettes themselves.
“As children head back to school, this new data shows the danger in allowing shops to set up anywhere they like.”
According to the Cancer Council, most people who smoke have their first cigarette before the age 17.
In the Murrumbidgee Local Health District, 16.6 per cent of people aged over 16 are currently smokers, 2 per cent higher than the state average.
Beth Hawkins has a daughter in high school and said she believed a range of factors could contribute to children taking up smoking.
“If they are suggesting correlation between smoking rates and location from schools then they do need to look at it so it’s less accessible,” Mrs Hawkins said. “But I think if retailers are doing the right thing legally and ethically then it shouldn’t be a problem.
“Retailers should have to be licensed too, like they are to sell alcohol, that’s a huge loophole.”
About 288 people in the district die from smoking each year and about 2760 are hospitalised.
“We’ve done so much work, and even parents do so much work to protect kids and teach them not to smoke, having these substances available around schools is making our jobs harder,” Mrs Nixon said.