In order to improve the public's health and reduce the smoking rate, there must be a comprehensive ban on cigarette advertising and display at convenience stores that many people frequent.
Starting in July 2023, in order to block external exposure of tobacco advertisements, the opaque sheets attached to the doors and windows of convenience stores will be removed, and anti-smoking advertising posters will be placed in their place. Convenience stores must choose from two anti-smoking advertisement designs provided by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and attach anti-smoking advertisement posters inside the convenience store. Additionally, the cigarette manufacturer decided to reduce the illuminance of the cigarette billboard by adjusting the brightness of the billboard.
In the meantime, in accordance with Article 9, Paragraph 4 of the National Health Promotion Act, tobacco advertisements inside tobacco shops (convenience stores) must not be visible from the outside. Anyone who violates this by attaching a translucent sheet to the window of a convenience store will be subject to imprisonment of up to one year or fine of up to 10 million won. The law imposing fines went into effect in July 2021, but no effective crackdown or law enforcement has taken place since this regulation was created.
Initially, the Ministry of Health and Welfare attached opaque sheets to the doors and windows of convenience stores to prevent convenience store cigarette advertisements from being visible from the outside, attached polarizing films to cigarette advertisements to reduce visual effects, installed screens on cigarette advertisements inside retail stores, and located the locations of cigarette advertisements. Methods such as adjustment and realignment were presented to the industry. Accordingly, the Korea Tobacco Association and the Korea Convenience Store Industry Association submitted a self-regulation proposal to the Ministry of Health and Welfare that chose the sheet attachment method. This is actually a self-regulation proposal to continue convenience store cigarette advertising while complying with related laws and regulations.
However, it was pointed out that the opaque sheets obscure the interior of convenience stores, making them vulnerable to crime, and as incidents and accidents at convenience stores are increasing every year, the Office for Government Policy Coordination recommended the Ministry of Health and Welfare to remove the opaque sheets to ensure the safety of the working environment. Instead of removing opaque sheets from convenience stores, anti-smoking advertising posters were attached to ensure visibility inside and outside the store, and cigarette manufacturers agreed to lower the lighting of existing advertisements inside convenience stores.
However, this is a contradictory measure that allows cigarette advertising and anti-smoking posters in convenience stores to coexist, and the fundamental measure is to ban cigarette advertising in convenience stores. Overseas, cigarette advertising regulations have already resulted in cigarettes being sold or displayed in invisible drawers. In particular, convenience stores in Korea have cigarette displays and cigarette advertisements located near the cash register, so regulation of this is urgent.
Convenience stores are visited by many people, including teenagers and young adults, and they are easily exposed to cigarette advertisements within convenience stores. In a meta-analysis study, it is reported that the more exposed you are to e-cigarette advertisements, the more likely you are to smoke e-cigarettes. The probability of smoking e-cigarettes is 1.53 times higher than if you are not exposed to them. In particular, exposure to e-cigarette advertisements in retail stores is 2.2 times higher, and exposure to internet and social media is 1.5 times higher. The smoking rate was twice as high, and exposure to cigarette advertisements at retail stores showed a high influence in inducing smoking.
Therefore, in response to the global trend of strengthening smoking regulations and to improve public health, it is necessary to promote a comprehensive ban, such as banning cigarette advertising and display at convenience stores. Moreover, in the case of teenagers working part-time at convenience stores, there are cases where they sell cigarettes themselves, so a youth protection policy is needed.
The introduction of sheeting in convenience stores is now being converted to a method of attaching anti-smoking posters and lowering the lighting of cigarette advertisements, but this also has many problems. As a ratifying country of the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), Korea must comply with the clause recommending banning tobacco advertising in tobacco retail stores. In particular, tobacco advertising in convenience stores, including tobacco advertising near cash registers, is completely prohibited. Should be. As research shows that the more frequently exposed to cigarette advertisements, the higher the probability of becoming a smoker, the law needs to be revised to ban cigarette advertisements in convenience stores visited by a large number of people, and the government and the National Assembly have joined forces to promote public health and youth Efforts should be made to prevent smoking.