Off duty smoking under attack

Anti-smoking campaigners are calling for all Greater Manchester health workers to be banned from lighting up in public - even when they are off duty. The calls come after health bosses in Suffolk announced plans to sack staff caught smoking, while wearing uniform or identity badges even if they are off the premises or in their own cars. As well as all staff, the suggested ban would cover volunteers, patients, visitors, contractors on health premises.

Dr Kalish Chand, regional representative of the British Medical Association, believes such a hard line policy may damage prospects of a smoking ban in public, he said: "I am all for a ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces but I think this goes too far. Doctors are role models and it would be damaging for them to be seen smoking by patients but they are individuals with rights."

Source: Manchester Evening News (29 November 2005)

Passive smoking: science or alchemy?

One of the hardest-hitting advertising campaigns on passive smoking in Europe has been unveiled in Scotland. The TV commercial shows a woman sitting in a smoke-filled bar, then being treated in hospital and, in the last image, dying from cancer. It’s part of a £750,000 advertising blitz ahead of the ban on smoking in all enclosed public places, which Scotland will launch in March.

Meanwhile, writing in The Times, former Scotsman editor Tim Luckhurst writes, "As MPs choose today between partial or total bans on smoking in public places they must ask themselves whether lying to promote a cause is ever legitimate. The question is urgent because the claim that secondary smoking kills is alchemy, not science, and honest anti-smoking lobbyists know it.

"The theory that cigarette smoke kills non-smokers was dreamt up 30 years ago by anti-smoking activists; only after inventing it did they attempt to prove it. Dozens of peer-reviewed scientific studies have followed. All point to a compelling consensus that there is no causal link between passive smoking and fatal illness."

Sources: Glasgow Herald, The Times (29 November 2005)

CMO's anger at partial ban

The government's chief medical officer (CMO) has told MPs that he had considered resigning after ministers decided against imposing a total ban on smoking in pubs and clubs in England. Professor Sir Liam Donaldson told the House of Commons' Health Select Committee that ministers' decision to ignore his advice to impose a total ban on smoking in public places had put Britain "amongst the laggards of public health policy making internationally instead of the world leaders".

He said: "I think the present proposal, which is a partial ban, is unsatisfactory for a number of reasons. It leaves those most exposed to second-hand smoke unprotected. It loses out on the opportunity to reduce the prevalence of smoking and ill-health from second-hand smoke as a consequence. "

The CMO added there was even greater need for a total smoking ban with the advent of extended opening hours for pubs and clubs, which would expose bar workers to other peoples' smoke for even longer periods.

Source: Guardian (24 November 2005)

'Get tough' on unhealthy lifestyles

A poll of more than 2,000 people by private health provider Bupa found 34% supported charges for treatment for people who smoke, drink or are obese. More than four out of 10 favoured some sort of penalty for people they considered to have self-inflicted health problems. And 8% said people who led an unhealthy lifestyle should be denied treatment.

The survey, which came ahead of Bupa's annual health debate, also found that 47% of people believed the government should increase taxes on cigarettes and alcohol.

Source: BBC News (22 November 2005)

Smoke free homes campaign launched

Protecting children from the effects of passive smoking is the focus of a new campaign being launched in the East End of Glasgow today. The Smoke Free Homes scheme will aim to encourage more parents to sign a pledge to ban smoke from the family home.

Source: Scottish TV (21 November 2005)

Depp threatens to defy smoking ban

Actor Johnny Depp, star of Pirates of the Caribbean and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, has vowed to defy any smoking ban imposed in Britain and attacks similar enforcements in his native America. The actor, who is thought to have a home in the south of England, has cut down on his nicotine habit, but believes smokers should be allowed to quit on their own, without being alienated.

He threatens: "I'll come over and have a smoke-a-thon. They've taken that whole pretzel and stretched it into as absurd pretzel as I've ever seen. Obviously it ain't good for you, and I don't condone it or recommend it, but everyone has to find their own way out of it. The idea of bludgeoning people and telling them that if they smoke they are awful is ludicrous."

Source: Ireland Online (18 November 2005)

AWT "against an outright ban"

The new issue of At Home With Antony Worrall Thompson (a 212-page magazine available in WH Smith and other large newsagents) features an article about smoking in public places.

According to the TV chef, who owns two restaurants in London, another in Wiltshire and is also patron of FOREST, "Smoking is legal so we need to make provision for people who like to smoke. I'm against an outright ban but, if necessary, let us have premises that apply for smokers' licenses, then at least smokers and non-smokers know what to expect. Smoking in public places that are properly ventilated seems better to me than people smoking in their own homes with inadequate ventilation."

'The Big Smoke Debate' article also features a quote by FOREST director Simon Clark who argues that a complete ban is "excessive, disproportionate and illiberal" and adds, "The idea that no infant, child or adult should be exposed to secondhand smoke ... is like saying that no infant, child or adult should be exposed to car fumes or dust mites or any level of pollution."

Source: At Home With Antony Worrall Thompson (January 2006)

Anti-smoking attack on Hollywood

Politicians from 32 US states have signed a petition urging movie bosses to add anti-smoking public service announcements to all DVD releases featuring stars lighting up. America's National Association of Attorneys General has been fighting for new anti-smoking legislation in Hollywood for many years, previously suggesting all films with smoking scenes should be released with a restrictive R rating.

Daily Mail (18 November 2005)

Statistically speaking

One in three smokers in Scotland support new legislation that will outlaw lighting up in public places, figures have revealed. The number of smokers who support the move has gone from 19% to 33% in just three months. The statistics were revealed in the latest of a series of surveys commissioned by the Scottish Executive to measure support in the run up to the ban being brought in March next year. An increasing amount of smokers believe it will help them give up, with 14% saying they thought the ban would encourage them to quit in August, compared to 6% in May.

Source: Daily Mail (16 November 2005)

Submarines exempt from smoking ban

Scotland's workplace smoking ban will not apply to submarines at sea, the Scottish Executive has revealed. Workers are set to be allowed to light up in designated smoking rooms on Navy subs and refuelling vessels following a request from the Ministry of Defence.

Source: BBC News (15 November 2005)

Bad diet now beats smoking

Bad diets have overtaken smoking as Britain biggest health burden, with the ill- effects (allegedly) costing the NHS £6 billion a year. A new study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health has concluded that the Health Service must now focus more closely on tackling poor diets, highlighting their link to ill-health.

Source: Scotsman (15 November 2005)

To smoke or not to smoke

A stunned Italian actor had to stub out the cigarette he had lit up on stage after a spectator complained, forcing the theatre to change the script of an Arthur Miller play A View from the Bridge to make it smoke-free. After a 15-minute suspension, the performance resumed with a modified script and a non-smoking protagonist.

Source: Reuters (14 November 2005)

"Why not ban drinking ... and sex?"

"Yes, technically I can see that you could argue that smoking in a pub could kill someone but that doesn't mean the Government has the right to kill off an English tradition," says Caroline Povey, 25, who will smoke 10 cigarettes before the night is out as she unwinds from a hard working week.

Alasdair Voisey, 30, a salesman, says: "It has to be down to the landlord, not central government, whether it's a non-smoking pub. I, for one, definitely would not go into a pub where I could not smoke. I like a smoke with a meal as well, so the policy about non-smoking in pubs serving food doesn't work for me either."

John Ramsden, another smoker, says: "There are some pubs where you can only smoke at the bar and maybe it's the landlord's right to decide that. But if the Government is going to stop us from smoking, why not just ban drinking - and sex, while we're at it?"

Source: Independent (12 November 2005)

Police boss bans smoking

Smokers working for North Wales police have been told to stub out their "nasty and dangerous habit" at work. Chief constable Richard Brunstrom told his officers: "Smoking is a nasty and dangerous habit. Smokers generally have a much worse attendance record and are more likely to suffer injuries at work."

Smoking will be banned in all police buildings, car parks and grounds. Richard Eccles, the secretary of the North Wales Police Federation, said: "We will take legal advice on it. It is not how you should be treating members of your staff.''

Brunstrom has also authorised an internal advertisement that specifically bars smokers from becoming traffic officers.

Simon Clark, director of FOREST, told listeners to BBC Radio Wales that it was ironic that "If you commit a crime and get sent to jail as a result you'll still be allowed to smoke, but if you join the police force to uphold the law you won't."

Sources: Daily Telegraph, The Sun (12 November 2005)