Fiddling those smoking figures again
27/03/10 Telegraph
To support its call for a complete ban on smoking in cars, the Royal College of Physicians claims that exposure to tobacco causes 22,000 cases of asthma in children every year. This recalls the fashion some years back among anti-smoking campaigners for blaming passive smoking for the soaring incidence of cot deaths. The only snag was that the years between 1970 and 1988, when cot deaths shot up by 500 per cent, coincided with the very time when the number of adults who smoked in Britain was falling most sharply, from 45 to 30 per cent. To anyone but a fanatical anti-smoking campaigner, this might have suggested that "environmental tobacco smoke" was unlikely to be the chief cause of cot deaths. With campaigners now gripped by this new itch to ban smoking in cars, we can expect much more of the same.
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Scots smokers refuse to call it quits despite ban
7/02/10 Daily Record
Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that the number of smokers who have quit since 2006 when the ban was introduced is insignificant, dropping from 25% in 2006 to 24% in 2008 (the most recent survey figures available). When the smoking ban was introduced, then health minister Andy Kerr said: "The majority of Scots don't smoke and of those who do, 70 per cent want to give up. This ban will give individuals the opportunity to cut down or stop and we will help them." These figures suggest no significant reduction has been acheived.
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BAT and Imperial Tobacco warn plain cigarette packs are a "counterfeiter's charter"
2/02/10 Daily Telegraph
British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco, the FTSE cigarette manufacturers, have warned that the Government risks shooting itself in the foot with its plans to regulate the industry.The FTSE companies backed Government plans to crack down on tobacco smuggling but warned that the illicit trade would be boosted by proposals to remove branding from cigarette packets.Imperial Tobacco called the proposal a "counterfeiter's charter" while BAT said it would play "right into the hands of the very criminals they seek to clamp down on."
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Smoking ban could extend to doorways
1/02/10 Daily Telegraph
Andy Burnham, the health secretary, will review the current law to see if it should be strengthened to include areas where smokers have gathered since the 2007 ban.Plain packaging for cigarettes and a complete ban on cigarette vending machines could also be introduced.An extension of the ban – which currently covers enclosed spaces – to include open-air but busy areas such as office doorways and pub gardens, would also reduce passive smoking, Department of Health (DH) officials believe.However, Simon Clark, director of the smokers' lobby group Forest, said further legislation would “further erode our ability to choose how we wish to live our lives".
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The Big Question: Can the number of smokers in the UK be reduced to one in 10 by 2020?
2/02/10 Independent
Yesterday the Government announced a 10-year strategy to halve the number of smokers from 21 per cent to 10 per cent of the population by 2020. That means persuading four of the eight million current smokers to give up, or avoid starting, the habit. The number has fallen by a quarter in the last decade and 337,000 stopped in the last year. Emboldened by this success, ministers are determined to follow it with a series of new measures that will make smoking less attractive.
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Smoking ban could include beer gardens
1/02/10 Morning Advertiser
The Government is set to review whether the smoking ban should be
extended to include areas such as entrances to buildings and beer
gardens. Health secretary Andy Burnham will conduct a review of the
smoking ban legislation and has outlined a new strategy to halve the
number of smokers from 21% of the population to 10% by 2020.As part of
the push, the Government is set to consider insisting cigarettes are
sold in plain packaging and extensions to the current ban, including
public open spaces.The Government has already committed to ban
cigarette vending machines from October 2011.
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Shaming smokers makes it harder to quit, study claims
8/01/10 National Post
Years of anti-smoking laws and campaigns have amounted to a public shaming of smokers that could make it harder for them to quit, a group of researchers argue in a new report. There is an "urgent" need for governments to revisit their anti-smoking policies, the academics say, suggesting that the stigma around smoking could lead to patients hiding their tobacco use from doctors, and feeling desperate about ever kicking the habit. The policies run counter to how other addictions are treated by the public-health field, they argue.
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Smoking bans 'don't work'
23/12/09 Morning Advertiser
There's no hard evidence that public smoking bans have the desired effects on people's health.That's according to a new report from the British and American-based think tank the Democracy Institute, which claims to unpick the arguments used to justify such bans.It comes as the UK Government prepares to review the smoking ban for England - the review is due next year, three years after its introduction.The report, called Are Public Smoking Bans Necessary, rejects claims of the hard evidence supporting the view that bans benefit health.
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Lord Mandelson stubs out plans for plain cigarette packets
18/12/09 London Evening Standard
A challenge by Business Secretary Peter Mandelson has delayed the Government's new anti-smoking strategy. Radical plans, including long-term proposals to outlaw eye-catching packaging for cigarettes, were expected in a policy paper this week. A source close to Health Secretary Andy Burnham confirmed the smoking strategy had been delayed and said there were “cordial discussions” with Lord Mandelson's department. It is understood the revised strategy will contain references to the plain packaging plan but no commitment to carry it out.
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Smoking ban extended to ships
10/12/2009 News Wales
The NPHS Health Improvement and Health Inequalities Teams have produced a response to the Department of Transport proposal to ban smoking on ships. At present, the bans on smoking in public places in Great Britain and Northern Ireland do not cover ships. This is because ships fall under the regulation of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. The Department of Transport are proposing some new legislation “Merchant Shipping (Prohibition of Smoking on Ships) Regulations” which aims to ban smoking in all areas on-board ships operating in the UK. People will only be allowed to smoke in specific zones approved by the ship’s captain.
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Taiwan aims to ban smoking while walking
14/12/2009 Independent
Taiwan plans to ban smoking while walking next year in a bid to promote a cleaner and healthier environment, an official said on Friday. The ban, currently being drafted by the Environmental Protection Administration, will also make it illegal to smoke while riding a motorbike or driving a car. Taiwan has tightened its anti-smoking rules in recent years and banned smoking in all indoor public places in January.
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Anti-smoking drug is linked to 37 suicides
13/12/2009 Sunday Telegraph
Fears are growing over the safety of an anti-smoking "wonder drug", taken by nearly a quarter of a million Britons, after officials in America linked it to 37 suicides. The Food and Drug Administration said it looks "increasingly likely" that there is a connection between the drug Champix and serious psychiatric problems. The Mail on Sunday revealed in December that there were concerns over the drug after it emerged that seven deaths in Britain were thought to be linked to the pill.
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Parents face ban on smoking in front of children
13/12/2009 Sunday Telegraph
Stopping parents lighting up at home, or in cars, if they are with their children will form part of an aggressive new anti-smoking campaign to be launched by ministers this week. The Government will also announce it plans to go ahead with a ban on all advertising on tobacco packaging. That measure would mean in future cigarettes could only be purchased under the counter in packets. They would be marked only with government health warnings.
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Tobacco display ban edges closer
27/11/2009 Talking Retail
The ban on tobacco displays has moved closer with the final committee stage of the Tobacco and Primary Services Bill (Scotland) having taken place this week(25 November). Alongside the display ban the Bill could introduce tobacco proxy purchasing legislation. At present, in both England and Scotland it is not a criminal offence to buy tobacco products for minors. The Bill aims to establish Scottish laws on tobacco proxy purchasing that are more in line with those already in place for alcohol. The Bill also seeks to introduce a registration scheme for retailers, fixed penalty notices for retailers who sell cigarettes to under 18s and banning orders to prevent retailers selling cigarettes if they continually flout the law.
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Even home is off limits
16/11/2009 New York Times
The movement to ban smoking in New York City has grown so quickly that no place seems immune — certainly not restaurants or bars, and public beaches and parks may not be far behind. Now the efforts are rapidly expanding into the living room. More landlords are moving to prohibit smoking in their apartment buildings, telling prospective tenants they can be evicted if they light up in them. This month, the Related Companies will ban smoking at some of its downtown apartment buildings because of health concerns about secondhand smoke, according to company officials.
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Cigarette machines to be banned from October 2011
13/11/2009 The Publican
Cigarette vending machines will be banned from October 2011, but pubs will still be allowed to sell cigarettes over the bar.The government’s Health Bill, containing powers for the ban, became law yesterday – but the machines will not be outlawed for another two years. The British Beer & Pub Association hit out at the move. A spokesman said: "A delay in implementation won’t be a comfort to customers or publicans when it does happen. "The ban was unnecessary, and it means that pubs will have to withdraw a service valued by many customers. This is not welcome, given the pressures the industry faces."
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Lynn Barber withdraws from festival in row over smoking picture
29/08/2009 Daily Telegraph
Lynn Barber, the writer and interviewer, has withdrawn from a literary festival after the local council refused to use a publicity photograph which showed her smoking a cigarette. Richmond Council in Surrey is committed to “encouraging good health habits” and including the picture in a promotional brochure would contravene policy, officials said. Ms Barber refused to supply an alternative picture and promptly pulled out of November’s Book Now festival, at which she was due to discuss her memoir, An Education. In an email to the organisers, she wrote: “I have always wanted to be a Smoking Martyr and obviously this is my opportunity. I hereby withdraw from the Festival. Best wishes, Lynn Barber.” She later joked: “If a pic of me smoking is such a threat to the good burghers of Richmond, imagine what my presence would do.” In a recent interview with The Daily Telegraph, Ms Barber cheerfully admitted: “I am 65 and I smoke and drink like a fish.”
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Mental health units ban forces ‘smoking den’ culture underground, says report
22/06/2009 Mental Health Foundation
A survey has uncovered widespread problems with the implementation of the smoking ban in psychiatric units in England. The Mental Health Foundation has published the results today in its report, Death of the smoking den: The initial impact of no smoking legislation in England in 2008.
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Smoking ban MP barred from his local pub
14/08/2008 BBC News
A Greater Manchester licensee has barred Labour MP David Heyes from his pub, stating he is not welcome at the Prince of Orange in Ashton-under-Lyne. "He took away my choice to have smokers in my pub, so I have taken away his choice to drink here," said the landlord.
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Death of the working men’s club
10/08/2008 The Independent
They used to guarantee a cheap pint and a good night out but, as more close every month, a bastion of British life is now under threat.
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The ‘genetic secrets’ of regular smokers
08/08/2008 BBC News
University of Michigan researchers have identified a gene found more often in people who said their first cigarette produced a "buzz", and were more likely to become regular smokers. The finding may help scientists develop anti-smoking drugs.
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German court overturns smoking ban
31/07/2008 Daily Telegraph
Germany's top court has ruled that the smoking ban introduced across the country earlier this year is unconstitutional. The ruling came after a case brought by the owner of two small bars, who claim that their business has been unfairly hit by the smoking ban.
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Painter fined for smoking in van
25/07/2008 BBC News
Gordon Williams, a painter and decorator from Ceredigion, says he was "dumbfounded" after being pulled over by Council officials for smoking a cigarette in his own van. He was slapped with a £30 fine, despite the van only being insured for private use.
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Birmingham to become ‘smoke-free city’?
22/07/2008 Birmingham Mail
Smokers could soon be banned from lighting up in the streets of Birmingham city centre, under new plans issued by Birmingham City Council. The controversial move could ultimately lead to Birmingham becoming the country’s first smoke-free city.
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Cigar blunder minister quits job
19/07/2008 Daily Post
Heritage Minister Rhodri Glyn Thomas dramatically quit the Assembly cabinet last night after it emerged that he walked into a pub carrying a lit cigar. A former shadow health minister, he was among AMs who backed the ban on smoking in public places – introduced in Wales in April last year.
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Holy smoke: Church founded for smokers
17/07/2008 Telegraph
Dutch smokers are flocking to a religious movement known as "The Only and Universal Smokers Church of God" following a ban on tobacco smoking indoors. Church members receive a card, for a fee of £3, to prove their religious denomination as a "Holy Smoker" to the authorities.
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Debate: Government subs for British pubs?
16/07/2008 BBC News
It appears the future of the great British pub is now on politicians' minds. The government may consider offering tax breaks to pubs to stay open, if they can prove their importance to community life.
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Electronic cigarette could save pubs
13/07/2008 Yourthanet.co.uk
Inventors of the electronic cigarette say it is healthier, cleaner, and it is an alternative method of puffing away in pubs.
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Doctors try to ‘de-glamorise’ smoking
07/07/2008 Guardian
The British Medical Association (BMA) called upon film critics to give an adults-only classification to all films said to ‘glamorise’ smoking, claiming that positive images of smoking encouraged young people to become addicted.
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Noise complaints up since smoking ban
04/07/2008 Derbyshire Times
Noise complaints have soared in some areas as residents protest about smokers congregating in beer gardens and outside pubs.
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430 venues have broken the ban
02/07/2008 Birmingham Mail
More than 400 pubs, cafes and other indoor venues in the West Midlands have been caught breaking the smoking ban since it was introduced last year. New figures revealed that inspectors working for local authorities found 430 premises where managers knowingly allowed customers to smoke.
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Forest pressures MPs to amend the ban
01/07/2008 The Publican
“Smokers are not going to disappear like a puff of smoke,” says Simon Clark, director of Forest. Today at the House of Commons the pro-smoking lobby plans to ask an audience of MPs to be ‘fair and practical’ about the plight of pubs and clubs one year on from the smoking ban. Clark will launch Forest’s ‘Amend the Smoking Ban’ campaign to lobby for licensed smoking rooms in pubs and clubs and return freedom of choice to smokers.
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Pubs ‘want to overturn’ the ban
01/07/2008 BBC News
A year after England’s smoking ban came into force, a majority of London pub landlords have reported losing business and 73% said they would overturn the smoking ban if they could. A survey showed that licensees had also been hit by the credit crunch and the rising price of drinks over the past year.
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20,000 pubs in danger
29/06/2008 The People
Contrary to most predictions before the ban was enforced last summer, the smoking ban has had a devastating effect on pub trade. When the ban came into effect on July 1, 2008, polls were claiming that up to 80 per cent of all adults were more likely to visit a pub. But hardly any of that horde of new customers has materialised - while regulars have vanished. Research by the magazine The Publican shows that only one in three licensees have attracted new customers since the ban. And at least 78,000 bar staff has been sacked because of a drop in business caused directly by the ban, according to the trade magazine Morning Advertiser.
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Women who smoke denied IVF
23/06/2008 Evening Standard
One third of primary care trusts are denying IVF treatment to women who smoke. They – and in some cases their partners – are being ordered to stop smoking or be excluded from fertility treatment on the NHS.
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Ban killing off working men’s clubs
22/06/2008 Sunday Mirror
80 working men’s clubs have closed since the government banned smoking in public places one year ago. A Union rep said, "People are angry with Labour for going back on a manifesto promise that members-only clubs would be allowed to let smokers in if they wanted." More than 500 clubs could disappear over the next five years, according to club bosses.
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Rebels launch ‘bring back smoking’ campaign
18/06/2008 Chorley Guardian
Rebel pub-goers in Chorley have sparked controversy by launching their own campaign to scrap the smoking ban. They have obtained nearly 400 signatures on a petition to change legislation brought in last year, asking to give licensees more power and create pubs exclusively for smokers and non-smokers.
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Pub trade under ‘serious threat’
17/06/2008 Brighton & Hove Argus
Thanks to the smoking ban and increased duty on alcohol, at least 100 Sussex pubs are on the market - where they have been languishing for months with no buyers. A spokesman for the Campaign for Real Ale said, “The picture in Sussex, which is pretty dire, is being repeated right across the country. The pub industry is in real trouble because of these policies.”
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More Irish smokers than ever
09/06/2008 The Publican
In Ireland last month a piece of news was quietly slipped out through the back door that you've probably not heard about. The number of smokers among the Irish population has actually risen significantly since the ban was introduced there. What does this mean for the UK one year on from its public smoking ban?
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Local council in Scotland may ban smokers adopting children
05/06/2008 Evening Times (Glasgow)
South Lanarkshire, ironically dubbed “Shangri-Lanarkshire” by this article’s writer Sam Clarke for its wholesome reputation, is about to deny a group of wannabe parents the chance of adopting children… because they are smokers.
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Scanner stops underage smokers
03/06/2008 Oxford Mail
A newsagent has become the first in Oxford to use fingerprints to check the age of people wanting to buy tobacco.
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Smokers’ anger over restrictions
01/06/2008 The Independent
Smokers' groups and manufacturers have condemned government proposals to clamp down on cigarette vending machines and packets of 10 in an attempt to stop children and young people smoking. Smokers' lobby group Forest said there was "no evidence" to show the plans would cut smoking rates among young people. "As far as vending machines go, the simple solution is to make them credit-card operated – then children can't use them," says spokesman Neil Rafferty.
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WHO’s afraid of tobacco adverts
31/05/2008 BBC News
The World Health Organisation has called on governments to ban all tobacco advertising out of concern that tobacco manufacturers are using increasingly sophisticated marketing techniques to ensnare young people, particularly in poorer countries. The appeal was issued to mark the WHO's World No Tobacco Day.
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Government plan to blank out cigarettes
31/05/2008 BBC News
Cigarettes could be sold only in the more expensive packs of 20 in plain packets, their corporate logos replaced with health warnings, in proposals drawn up by the Department of Health aimed at discouraging smoking.
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Irish to display graphic images on cigarette packets
29/05/2008 Irish Times
Graphic images which will soon be put on cigarette packets are to go public display tomorrow in Ireland. Images chosen are to show rotten teeth and the effects of a smoking-related tumour on the throat of a man.
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Health Secretary announces point of sale ban
26/05/2008 The Independent
Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced dramatic new plans to move cigarettes sold in shops out of public display. Cigarette vending machines are to be scrapped and the 10-pack will be outlawed, according to proposals due to be released later this week.
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Cigarette displays to be banned in Scotland
22/05/2008 Telegraph
Cigarettes are to be banned from public display in shops under plans announced on Wednesday by the Executive. The proposed legislation follows the ban on smoking in public places and will force cigarettes "under the counter". The SNP administration is also proposing to ban the sale of packs of 10.
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Pub chains suffering as patrons ‘go walkabout’
17/05/2008 The Guardian
Regent Inns, the British pub and comedy club operator, has seen its shares fall by almost 90% this year. One of its most popular chains, the Australian- themed Walkabout pubs, has been hit hard by rising competition, increased costs, and the introduction of the smoking ban.
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Cantinas snuffed out in Mexico City
12/05/2008 Financial Times
Since the advent of a public smoking ban in Mexico City last month, many once vibrant cantinas have experienced dwindling business as patrons take their custom elsewhere. The air in the city’s watering holes may be a bit cleaner, but the empty tables which abound may be the first signs that these symbols of traditional culture are on shaky ground.
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Fake cigarettes cause a stir in Glasgow
11/05/2008 Sunday Mail
News of the SuperSmoker cigarette may be music to smokers ears since the UK ban on smoking in public places in July. This £89 electronic ciggie supplies a hit of nicotine which is vapourized rather than burned, making it legal to light one up anywhere. A student road-testing the new fake fag around Glasgow encountered a few raised eyebrows, but found it allowed him to “smoke” in public again.
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Could smoking actually save your life?
07/05/2008 Times Online
A recently released study in the Journal of Public Economics has found that smoking bans are directly correlated with a 13% increase in the number of fatal automobile accidents. The researchers believe bans force smokers to drive further into neighboring towns with smoker-friendly bars. For smokers complying with national bans, they may be staying closer to home and drinking more, as nicotine deprivation can sharpen the urge to drink according to neurological research.
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Prisoners on hunger strike over tobacco ban
04/05/2008 The Guardian
A workplace smoking ban came into effect last month on the Isle of Man, where the island’s tiny 90-man prison is not exempted from the ruling. This despite on the mainland, prisons have been exempted because a cell is the inmate’s home. Prisoners anticipating the ban have stockpiled tobacco and started a hunger strike to send a clear message to authorities they will not accept the ruling without a fight.
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Beijing to ban smoking in run up to Olympics
01/05/2008 BBC News
One out of three cigarettes smoked around the world is lit in China. But now that may change. Authorities in the Chinese capital, Beijing, have imposed a ban on smoking in most public buildings. 100,000 existing employees will act as an enforcement team, according to the plan they believe will save money on health care in the future.