Sacked for being a smoker

A woman was sacked 45 minutes after starting her new job - because she was a smoker. Sophie Blinman, 21, who smokes five to 10 cigarettes a day, was dismissed on the spot by bosses despite pledging not to light up in the office. Bosses at Dataflow Communications in Wells, Somerset, said: "If someone is found to smoke, even in their own time, they will not work for the company. Legally, we're entitled to do this. It's positive discrimination, and we're proud of it."

Simon Clark, director of smokers' rights group FOREST, said: "It's one thing to have a no smoking policy, another to refuse to employ a smoker. What's going to happen next? Are firms going to refuse to employ fat people? It is straightforward discrimination, but it appears smokers are the one minority group with no rights whatsoever."

Sources: Daily Mirror, Yahoo News (23 December 2005)

Surgeon calls for pub drink limit

A surgeon has called for pub landlords in Scotland to limit customers to three drinks per visit in order to tackle alcohol abuse. John Smith, president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, said it was the "logical step" following the ban on smoking in public places.

Source: BBC News (11 December 2005)

Smoking age limit could be raised

The minimum age for buying tobacco in Britain could be raised from 16 to 18. A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said the move, if adopted, would bring buying tobacco into line with the current minimum age limit for purchasing alcohol. Smokers' lobby group FOREST said they did not object to a rise "in principle".

"Smoking should be seen as an adult activity," FOREST director Simon Clark said. "Anything that can discourage children from smoking has to be a good thing. The problem is implementation. It would be one of those laws that would be difficult to enforce. You could have sex at 16 but not a fag afterwards."

Source: The Observer (4 December 2005)

WHO bans recruitment of smokers

The World Health Organisation says it will no longer recruit smokers. New vacancy notices now carry a stark warning to candidates for any posts worldwide: 'WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or other tobacco users.' The new policy will not apply to existing WHO employees but they are being encouraged to quit.

Spokesman Iain Simpson said the recruitment ban on tobacco users had been checked with lawyers and was not discriminatory. But a leading Swiss anti-smoking campaigner Jean Charles Rielle said he felt ill as ease with the move. "As a doctor, I cannot accept that a person suffering from a dependency should be excluded if they are able to carry out the objectives set by the company."

Source: AFP (1 December 2005)