England slams the door on smoking in bars, workplaces and public buildings today in what campaigners hail as the biggest boost to public health since the creation of the National Health Service in 1948.
“Smoking is the single most preventable cause of death,” said Deborah Arnott, director of charity Action on Smoking and Health.
“Workers have a right to a safe environment and the harm done by tobacco smoke is now known to be significantly dangerous,” she said.
But artist David Hockney, who has been waging a one-man campaign against the ban, calls it a “grotesque piece of social engineering” imposed by a “political and media elite”.
The English ban means smoking in enclosed public places will now be banned across the entire United Kingdom.
Wales and Northern Ireland outlawed public smoking in April following the lead of Scotland last year.
Strict controls
Ireland and other European countries have also banned smoking indoors, while some parts of Canada and a number of US states have had strict controls on smoking for years.
The legislation is designed to protect people from the effects of second-hand smoke at work, which doctors estimate kills more than 600 people a year.
But the government hopes it will also help smokers quit and discourage children from taking up the habit.
A quarter of adults smoke, with the level higher among those doing manual and routine jobs.
Individuals lighting up against the law face fines of up to £200 (Dh1,475) while businesses can be charged up to £1,000 (Dh7,375) for failing to display “no smoking” signs.
The ban will be enforced by local authorities, with many saying they will adopt a “softly softly” approach at first.
But in Birmingham 100 enforcement staff will hand out £50 (Dh369) spot fines to anyone refusing to put out an offending cigarette.
No smoking signs must be displayed wherever the ban applies – which includes minicabs, company cars and churches.
Offshore oil rigs, hotel rooms and prison cells are among the few places where public smoking will continue to be permitted.
Also, unlike in Scotland, actors will be able to smoke on stage where it is required for “artistic integrity”.
Nicotine reaches the brain as quickly as 10 seconds after inhalation, triggering feelings of pleasure, increasing heart rate and raising blood pressure.
But alongside the nicotine, smokers breathe in a deadly cocktail of chemicals including arsenic, formaldehyde and polonium.
“Cigarette smoke contains at least 69 different cancer-causing chemicals and thousands of other poisons which can increase the risk of several different types of cancer,” said Ed Yong of Cancer Research.
“Nicotine itself doesn’t cause cancer, it just keeps the smokers hooked,” he added.
Tobacco is so addictive that doctors writing in the Lancet medical journal this year said it should be classified as an illegal Class B drug, on a par with amphetamines and barbiturates.
The government says 70 per cent of smokers want to give up but are held back by the power nicotine has over them.
Only one in five who try quitting manage to abstain for a year, while just three per cent succeed in breaking the habit by willpower alone, according to statistics compiled by health charity Action on Smoking and Health.
One in six smokers say they light up within five minutes of waking up, with half having their first cigarette inside the first 30 minutes of the day.
The government says 106,000 people die a year in Britain from smoking-related illnesses.
Around a quarter of all adults smoke but among the most disadvantaged, such as single parents on benefit, the rates are as high as 70 per cent.
Legislation adopted around the world
Ireland imposed the world’s first nationwide ban on smoking in the workplace in 2004. American states, including Florida and California, have had similar bans since 2003. In November 2004, Bhutan became the first country in the world to ban tobacco sales completely.
Some other countries which have banned smoking in some form this year are:
January: Hong Kong starts a ban on smoking in all indoor workplaces, as well as restaurants, parks and beaches. However bars, saunas, nightclubs and mahjong parlours are exempted until mid-2009.
February: France starts a ban on smoking in most public places including schools, hospitals and youth centres. A wider ban on smoking in bars, restaurants, hotels and night clubs starts from 2008.
April: Wales became thesecond country in the United Kingdom to stub out smoking in public enclosed spaces ahead of the total ban in the UK from July.
Smokers in Northern Ireland face fines if they light up in pubs, offices and other indoor public places after a smoking ban came into force.
May: Portugal’s parliament approves a law banning smoking in almost all indoor public places.
Dubai bans smoking in government buildings, schools and colleges, the first step in a plan to stub out smoking across the Gulf Arab trade and tourism hub by the end of 2009.
June: Finland and Iceland ban smoking in restaurants, cafes and bars. Estonia also starts a ban on smoking in bars, restaurants, coffee shops and nightclubs.
July 1: Smoking ban in public places in England comes into effect.
Source: http://www.gulfnews.com/world/United_Kingdom/10135993.html
