The Aichi Pharmaceutical Association declared Saturday that it will soon make all prescription drug stores in the prefecture no-smoking zones.
Under the declaration, adopted at a meeting of the association, some 2,500 member stores will ban smoking in their premises.
Although it is nonbinding, the antismoking campaign is the first of its kind by a prefecture-wide association of pharmacists. Drug store operators who deal only with over-the-counter drugs are not members of the association.
"Drug stores are places where the sick and children visit. As they are medical facilities, a ban on smoking is a matter of course," said Katsuhiko Hattori, president of the association.
However, the association left a decision on whether to ban the sale of cigarettes at stores to each individual member, given the fact that tobacco sales make up an important revenue source for many stores.
The association said it adopted the smoke-free declaration following a survey conducted last month that said 80.9 percent of the members who responded wanted a total ban.
The poll also showed that 45.4 percent of the 1,476 respondents said they had ash trays at their stores while 13.6 percent sell cigarettes.