Hey, did anyone notice this?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16342906
Apparently, this coming April, large supermarkets are no longer allowed to display tobacco products.
Not that I am a smoker, but I can see how this goes. Smoking, at least in the UK is not illegal, but it is heavily frowned upon in many social environments. The day to day smoker is tolerated, it is expected that they will eventually quit or have accepted the personal consequences.
Enforcing a law that outright bans smoking (tobacco or other) is something that would be completely impractical. A social ban and stigmatization [1] of the act is a much better way to "eradicate" smoking via social engineering. Sweet.
Smaller shops, newsagents are exempt until 2015.
[1] Apparently that's a word according to my spell checker.