by PHILLIPPE AIMEY

MORE THAN 3 000 BOXES of cigarettes are sold at some retail outlets monthly, despite the constant appeals to stop smoking given the dangers associated with the habit.

At one West Coast service station for example, management reported that 3 600 boxes of cigarettes – and sometimes more – were sold every month.

"We get both locals and tourists purchasing various brands, sometimes more than one box per customer. At the end of May, we recorded sales in excess of $25 000," he said, requesting that his name not be used.

This comes as chief executive officer of the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados, Adrian Randall, and president of the National Committee for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug Dependency, Victor Roach, called for a ban on smoking in all public places.

Last Saturday was World No Tobacco Day with the theme Tobacco And The Youth, with both Randall and Roach voicing concerns not just for the smokers but for those around them who do not.

Both organisations have been seeking to pressure Government to introduce legislation banning smoking in public.

In 2001, then Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronald Knight, spoke about legislation, including monetary penalties, coming on stream for people smoking in Government buildings, indoor entertainment facilities, nurseries, schools, health care facilities and office buildings.

In 2005, then Minister of Health Jerome Walcott said getting the legislation passed as soon as possible was very important since officials in his ministry were concerned about what appeared to be an increase in the number of young people, particularly girls, smoking in public, especially around nightclubs.

There was a belief among some retailers that cigar smoking was popular among more affluent people; and that the cigars, which were rolled in tobacco leaves without a filter, were less harmful than cigarettes.

"Cigars carry a stronger smell than cigarettes, but genuine cigar smokers do not inhale; the smoke does not go into the lungs," Astrid Reid, manager of Caribbean Cigar Company located at Pelican Industrial Park, Bridgetown, told the WEEKEND NATION.

She said they sold 3 272 cigars last month, with their tobacco coming from Cuba, Cameroon and Ecuador, noting this was a small increase from previous months.

In relation to a ban on public smoking, Reid said: "People will use their discretion. My only concern will be how the tourists react if they meet the same restrictions here that they do overseas."

Information from the Barbados Statistical Service showed that more than $18 million in tobacco products were imported last year.

CIGARETTES sold at a West Coast service station in May:

BRAND UNITS SOLD

(Cigarettes)

Embassy Regular 1318

Benson & Hedges 1450

Marlboro 327

Pall Mall 269

Dunhill 94

Camel Lights 29

Newport 27

Number 1 19

L&B 17

Salem Regular 2

(Cigars)

Cafe Creme 15

King Edwards 66

Colts 16

(Cigarette Paper)

Bambu 400

Rizzla 189

Golden Virginia 27