So-called "power walls" -- the large displays of cigarettes and tobacco products commonly found behind convenience-store counters -- are being banned in Nova Scotia, the Canadian Press reported June 4.

Copying a similar ban from Prince Edward Island, the Nova Scotia Department of Health Promotion and Protection says it will fine retailers $1,000 if they don't tear down the displays and eliminate tobacco ads from their stores.

Retailers said that it will be impossible for them to comply with the regulations, which were issued on May 31. "A lot of people are not going to be going along with this because the government has not dealt in good faith," said Sid Chedrawe of the Independent Food Stores Association.

Chedrawe said that rules requiring cigarettes to be stored below the counter will require clerks to bend down to retrieve packs, leaving them vulnerable to attackers.