New York mayor wants to ban stores from displaying cigarettes

By Jonathan Allen NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday proposed requiring that cigarettes be hidden from view in retail stores as a means to reduce smoking in what he said would be the first law of its kind in the United States. Bloomberg plans to introduce to the City Council on Wednesday two bills that would require retailers to keep cigarettes in a drawer, behind a curtain or in some other concealed location. Some retail trade groups and tobacco companies criticized the proposed display ban as an unnecessary burden. …