The anti-smoking lobby group ASH wants to ban a marketing promotion which includes free gifts with purchases of cigarettes and tobacco.
It says a company, Imperial Tobacco, is pushing the law to its limits by selling cigarettes and tobacco in packages along with free items such as pocket knives, CD cases and bottle openers.
ASH's spokesperson Trish Fraser says the packages are available in some dairies and service stations and the free products are obviously targeted at young people.
She says ASH has alerted the Ministry of Health which has ordered a legal opinion to see if the practice breaches the Smokefree Environments Act.
No one from Imperial Tobacco, which is based in Petone, was available for comment.
Advertisement
