Smoke screens

[thomas]

Lolol, "diehard smokers"...

Battle over cigarette vending machines at health ministry

A battle is quietly unfolding at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on whether the government agency which serves as the "standard bearer" of Japan's antismoking campaign should remove automated cigarette vending machines from its premises.

The battle was set off by a complaint last month from the ministry's Health Sciences Council, where one council member found it "strange" that a ministry responsible for educating the public on the hazards of smoking should have cigarette vending machines on its site.

While antismoking proponents favor the removal of the vending machines, diehard smokers want nothing of the sort.


=> http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content...at=1&id=241799