Britain to ban open cigarette sales

LONDON, May 26 (UPI) -- Britain's health secretary said he expects to announce this week a ban on sales of cigarettes over the counter and by vending machines.

Alan Johnson said Sunday he backed nationwide enforcement of Scotland's decision to force cigarette sales "under the counter." Speaking on BBC One, he said, "I think they (the Scottish) are right to do that and indeed we are considering that as well. We will launch a consultation document on that next week."

Following the government's decision several months ago to raise the age for buying cigarettes to 18, the health secretary said Sunday that more anti-smoking measures were likely to soon be introduced, possibly including banning sales of packets of 10. "Whether you should still be able to buy 10 cigarettes or whether you should insist you can only buy 20 is an issue we need to look very closely at," he said.