Prison officers object to passive smoking

Prison officers in Scotland are threatening to stay out of cells because of the alleged cancer risk from passive smoking. The unrest has prompted prison unions to contact the Health and Safety Executive, the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland and the anti-smoking group ASH Scotland to ask for tests to be carried out in jails to determine how long toxins stay in the air after a cigarette is put out.

Neil Rafferty, Scottish spokesman for FOREST, said the fears over passive smoking had become "obsessive" and "hysterical". He added: "The evidence on the dangers of passive smoking is very, very thin. If prison officers think they are going to be doing serious damage to their health by spending a few minutes in a cell each day, then they have been very badly misled by the anti-smoking extremists."

Source: Sunday Herald (16 April 2006)

France delays smoking ban

The French government this week announced it was delaying legislation to ban smoking in public places, and called for months of consultations. Since 1992 bars and restaurants are supposed to have up clearly defined non-smoking areas. In practice the areas are often hard to spot. The restaurateurs' union has expressed concern over the effects of an all-out ban, but economists discounted suggestions it would hurt the service sector.

Source: Scotsman/Reuters (14 April 2006)

Smoking banned in pub doorways

Smokers in the Shetland Isles are being warned that if they smoke in pub doorways they are breaching the new ban. Shetland Islands Council's environmental health department spokesman Maggie Dunne said smokers needed to be reminded that smoking in pub doorways, where there is a roof and walls on either side, was breaking the ban. She said once the softly-softly settling in period has passed, smokers will be fined for smoking in these areas as well.

Source: Morning Advertiser (10 April 2006)

Nurse murdered going for a smoke

A nurse was stabbed to death yesterday as she went for a walk outside a hospital during her morning cigarette break. The woman, named last night as Cheryl Moss, 33, suffered multiple knife wounds and was left bleeding to death on a path at St George's Hospital in Essex. The path, which leads to Hornchurch Country Park, is often used by staff, who have to leave the hospital grounds to have a cigarette. The hospital has a strict non-smoking policy, which was introduced this year. Staff and patients are banned from smoking anywhere in the hospital grounds.

Source: The Times (7 April 2006)

M&S ban staff lighting up in uniform

Staff at Marks & Spencer have been banned from lighting up in public with their uniforms on show. Bosses barred workers from smoking outside stores a week after banning it inside company premises and vehicles. A spokesman said: "We've banned smoking on, and outside, our premises. We've also asked staff not to smoke in the vicinity of stores in their uniform as it doesn't create the right impression for customers."

Source: Daily Mirror (6 April 2006)

M&S ban staff lighting up in uniform

Staff at Marks & Spencer have been banned from lighting up in public with their uniforms on show. Bosses barred workers from smoking outside stores a week after banning it inside company premises and vehicles. A spokesman said: "We've banned smoking on, and outside, our premises. We've also asked staff not to smoke in the vicinity of stores in their uniform as it doesn't create the right impression for customers."

Source: Daily Mirror (6 April 2006)

Smokers "admit habit is anti-social"

Three in four smokers admit their habit is anti-social, according to a study out yesterday. One in five said they felt guilty about their addiction and the same amount believe smoking is not the done thing any more. But the study, for the NHS Smoking Helpline, found that 53 per cent still smoked in the same room as non-smokers.

Source: Daily Record (29 March 2006)

Smokers urged not to smoke at home

Smokers in Glasgow are being urged to extend the nationwide smoking ban in public places to their own homes. A project in the city’s east end has seen 50 people sign up to make their homes smoke free since December.

Source: BBC News (27 March 2006)