煙草在線據哥倫比亞廣播公司報道編譯　　紐約市長邁克爾·彭博正在發起一輪新的保護健康的攻勢。彭博希望使紐約成為美國第一個禁止在商店內展示卷煙的城市。加拿大、澳大利亞和歐洲的部分國家已經實施了類似的禁令。但紐約將成為美國第一個執行這樣禁令的城市。

　　彭博政府說，經常接觸被展示煙草產品的兒童開始吸煙的可能性要大2.5倍。彭博說：“煙草產品被展示出來表明，吸煙是一種正常的活動，展示煙草產品會招致青年人去體驗煙草。”

　　卷煙應該被藏到看不見的地方，不過，店內的卷煙廣告則不必藏起來。紐約市還有權關閉反復被抓住出售走私卷煙的商店。

　　彭博說：“這是件重要的事情。不要犯錯誤。”

　　彭博的提議立刻遭到了紐約便民店協會的批評。該組織說：“強制有經營許可證的、納稅守法的零售商將煙草存貨藏起來的這種想法顯然十分可笑。在飲品中心看到啤酒并沒有讓孩子開始喝酒，在酒鋪看到彩票并沒有讓孩子們開始賭博，看到藥店里的避孕套并沒有讓孩子們發生婚前性行為，可卷煙貨架卻顯然擁有心靈感應的力量。”

　　紐約電臺WNYC負責衛生保健與醫藥報道的記者弗瑞德·謀格爾說：“顯然，彭博市長激起了眾怒。很多人都很關切——這是政府要扮演的角色嗎？”

　　謀格爾說，彭博市長已經將紐約市變成了一個新奇公共健康計劃的孵化器。一些公共健康計劃已經執行，比如規定菜單上要打上卡路里計數，禁止在很多公共場所吸煙，等等。另一些計劃，如最近被駁回的關于禁止含糖飲料的計劃，則沒有被實施。

　　謀格爾說：“我跟公共健康領域里人們進行了交談，他們擔心，他們的這個黃金時代可能就要終結，說得婉轉一些，就是擔心往后不管出現什么措施，彭博市長都會非常堅定地復制。”

　　紐約市成年人的吸煙率從2002年的21.5%下降到了2011年的14.8%。最新的反吸煙措施還需要得到市長委員會的批準才能成為法律——這是大型蘇打水禁令也尚未完成的程序。

評論：

　　紐約市長彭博因推行一系列“突破性政策”而備受爭議：禁售大容量含糖飲料、收取擁堵費、海灘和公園禁煙、禁止商店展示煙草產品，等等。這些措施被許多人所不理解、反對，甚至紐約市長本人也被取笑“想當保姆”、管得太細，但是這些反對的聲音都不能阻止市長推出新政的決心。其實，紐約市長的這一片苦心應當被理解，這些新政都是為了紐約市民的健康著想，雖然會觸動某些人的利益，但大眾健康卻應該是放在首位的。健康無小事，一個小的習慣的改變就可能會對一個人的健康影響深遠。紐約市長負責任的態度值得稱贊，通過細節來保衛健康，最終受益的還是公眾。

Bloomberg Tobacco Initiative Slammed by N.Y. Convenience Stores

　　New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is launching a new health offensive. Bloomberg hopes to make New York the first city in the country to ban in-store cigarette displays. Similar bans have already been implemented in Canada, Australia and parts of Europe. But New York would be the first city in the U.S. to implement a ban.

　　The Bloomberg administration says children who are frequently exposed to tobacco product displays are two-and-a-half times more likely to start smoking. Bloomberg has said, "Such displays suggest that smoking is a normal activity and they invite young people to experiment with tobacco."

　　Cigarettes would be hidden from view, though in-store cigarette ads would not. The city would also have the power to close stores repeatedly caught selling smuggled cigarettes.

　　"This is a big thing," Bloomberg said. "Make no mistake."

　　The proposals were immediately criticized by the New York Association of Convenience Stores. "The notion of forcing licensed, tax-collecting, law-abiding retailers to hide their tobacco inventory is patently absurd," the group said. "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."

　　Fred Mogul, health care and medicine reporter for the New York radio station WNYC, said, "Obviously Mayor Bloomberg has ruffled a lot of feathers. A lot of people are concerned -- is this a role that the government has to play?"

　　Mogul says the mayor has turned New York City into an incubator for novel public health initiatives. Some have been implemented, like mandating calorie counts on menus and prohibiting smoking in many public places. Others, like the recently overturned ban on large sugary drinks, have not.

　　Mogul said, "People in public health that I've talked to are concerned that this golden age for them might be coming to an end, that whatever follows Mayor Bloomberg will be very tough to replicate, to put it mildly."

　　The adult smoking rate in the city is down from 21.5 percent in 2002, to 14.8 percent in 2011. The latest anti-smoking measures will have to be passed by the city council in order to become law -- something that wasn't done with the jumbo soda ban.