"Displaying Their Ignorance on Smoking" by Patrick Basham and John Luik (Cato Institute: Commentary)

"Displaying Their Ignorance on Smoking" by Patrick Basham and John Luik (Cato Institute: Commentary): "they refute each of the key claims about the supposed effect of tobacco displays on children's intentions to smoke.

First, there were no statistically significant differences in the estimates of how many of their peers smoke between the children who saw the convenience shop with no cigarettes and those who saw the shop with cigarettes.

Second, there were no statistically significant differences in approval of smoking between those who saw the shop with no cigarettes and those who saw the shop with cigarettes.

Third, there were no significant differences in assigning favourable attributes to children who smoke between those who saw the convenience shops with no cigarettes and those who saw the shop with cigarettes.

Fourth, there were no statistically significant differences in their perceptions of the dangers of smoking between children viewing the shop with no cigarettes and those seeing the shop with cigarettes.

Finally, and most importantly, there were no statistically significant differences in the children's intention to smoke between those who saw the shop with no cigarettes and those who saw the shop with cigarettes.

This research is not produced by the tobacco industry. Wakefield works at Cancer Council Victoria."

"The Goddard Report, a longitudinal study of the causes of youth smoking and one of the largest studies of adolescent smoking conducted in the UK, found that becoming a smoker was associated with seven risk factors: being a girl, having brothers or sisters who smoke, having parents who smoke, living with a single parent, having relatively less negative views about smoking, not intending to stay on in full-time education after 16, and thinking that one might be a smoker in the future.

Becoming a smoker was not statistically associated with being aware of tobacco advertising or being able to name more brands of cigarettes. Indeed, Goddard found that children overwhelmingly did not like tobacco advertisements."

"In Canada, for instance, there is no obvious difference in youth prevalence between provinces with and without tobacco display bans. Moreover, according to the UK government's own data, the highest prevalence is found in Saskatchewan, the first province to ban tobacco displays."