Last gasp for public smoking
Where Ireland leads, California and New York have followed. And now it seems that the British Government has seen the light and is also motivated by Ireland’s example. We are talking about the ban on smoking in public places, of course, the intention to introduce which was announced in Whitehall this week.
Such a ban on smoking in public in Britain cannot come a moment too soon. The measures which the government has announced go much further than the partial ban that was proposed last year, setting out as they do a complete ban on smoking in the workplace, in pubs, clubs and restaurants.
It works in Ireland. And it will work in Britain.
Arguments can go on about the Nanny State and that outright bans are an over-eager way to deal with problems. But, in the case of smoking, the enormous benefits that would result from making public places entirely smoke-free far outweigh the debate on curbing of an individual’s rights and freedom.
The National Health Service was established in Britain to save lives. As such it is respected around the world. But while on the one hand the NHS, using ever-new techniques and treatments, continues to save lives and ease pain and suffering, it is being choked by patients who are the cause of their own problems by too much smoking, drinking and eating.
The cigarette industry may campaign hard against a ban on smoking in public. But even it acknowledges that a ban would increase the numbers of smokers who are quitting the habit — as was the case in Ireland.
According to figures from cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris, a ban on smoking in public could lead to an additional 200,000 people a year being helped to give up. That can be no bad thing.
Smoking in Britain is responsible for 10 times more deaths than road accidents. It is no wonder then that the chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson is in favour of a total ban rather than the partial one that was the view of the former health secretary Dr John Reid.
His proposal for a partial ban would have meant no smoking in pubs that served food with no such ban in force in pubs that sold merely snacks. The result of that approach would have meant that poorer areas of the country would have more people exposed to smoke, while the richer areas where people can afford to eat out would immediately become a healthier place to be.
The ban now envisaged would protect everyone from the dangers of secondary smoke. It would also provide the best incentive for smokers to give up the habit.
Ireland showed the world that a ban can work. There is no reason why it shouldn’t work here in Britain too. | 