New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s latest proposal — a ban on cigarette displays in retail establishments that sell them — is scheduled to be addressed by the City Council today, but the plan has already encountered some push back from the 1,500-member New York Association of Convenience Stores (NYACS).
Convenience Store News (h/t reader Steven) notes that the group has released a statement that reads:
The notion of forcing licensed, tax-collecting, law-abiding retailers to hide their tobacco inventory is patently absurd. Seeing beer in a beverage center doesn’t make [kids] start drinking; seeing lottery tickets in a bodega doesn’t make them start gambling; seeing condoms in a pharmacy doesn’t make them engage in premarital sex; but that cigarette rack apparently has telepathic powers.
The proposed measure, titled the “Tobacco Product Display Restriction” bill, would require stores to keep tobacco products in closed cabinets and drawers, under the counter, behind a curtain, or in other concealed locations. The smokes would be visible only during restocking or when an adult purchased a package — presuming said adult knew for certain that the store sold cigarettes. The secrecy angle lends the whole affair something of an unintentionally amusing speakeasy quality:
Proprietor [Sliding back panel in door in response to three knocks]: Yeah?
Customer [First looking left and right to make sure the coast is clear]: I wanna buy some cigarettes.
Proprietor: What’s the password?
The article notes that Bloomie has targeted tobacco sales before — and failed:
In September 2009, the New York City Board of Health approved a code change that required the display of smoking cessation signs where tobacco products are sold. In June 2010, several plaintiffs filed suit challenging the move. The point-of-service measure was struck down twice in court, most recently in July when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a 2010 district decision striking down the resolution, finding that such mandates were preempted by federal law.
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Any day now Bloomie will ban oral sex. Clinton (the hetero one) will be devastated. Obama, on the other hand, will be so relieved he may move to The City. OWIE. The image is hurting my brain. Ow Ow Ow! I can just see an in heat Michele breaking down the door of the Lincoln bedroom, at 3 a.m., wearing red thong panties and demading that hubby chow down the fish taco right now. Hopefully the secret service would recognize an assasination attemp when they see one and shoot her with a stinger missile.
Steven
Guess you haven’t been shown the penalty box Steven…I have a reserved seat so you’ll have to find your own.
teejk…I think Michele IS the penalty box. I would never find my way out.
Steven
you are probably right…a 2×4 and duct tape required before you go in.
“Help me find my keys and I’ll turn on the headlights” (old joke that could be appended with HELP ME, HElp me, Help me or whatever works for trying to produce an echo in text).
Maybe Search and Rescue could bring in a couple of labrador retrievers to get us out, teejk? Although, this assignment could actually cause a dog to speak in perfect English. “I’m NOT going in there. I don’t care who is lost. They’re going to die.”
Steven