Britain's health secretary says he thinks shops should be forced to sell cigarettes under the counter, the AP reported.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson tells the British Broadcasting Corp. that a Scottish move to ban shopkeepers from selling cigarettes openly is a good one.
He said Sunday the British government is considering implementing the same sort of rule nationally.
It was one a host of new anti-smoking proposals he said would be made next week.
Other proposals include banning cigarette vending machines and forcing retailers to sell a minimum of 20 smokes at a time to reduce affordability.
Britain already bans smoking in offices, restaurants and pubs. Cigarettes are heavily taxed and will soon have to bear images of smoke-stained lungs and cancerous tumors.