BMJ  2006;332:1349 (10 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7554.1349-a

News

Ban on smoking in public places "disproportionate to the problem"

London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

New legislation that bans smoking in public places in England, which is due to reach the final stages of voting in the House of Lords later this month, is unjustified and an over-reaction to the scientific evidence on passive smoking, says a House of Lords report.

The impact of passive smoking in public places is a relatively minor problem compared with passive smoking in the home, says the House of Lords' economic affairs committee. It concludes, "Failure to consider these matters properly has resulted in the introduction of a policy that appears to demonstrate a disproportionate response to the problem."

The committee conducted an inquiry into government policy on the management of risk after a speech by the prime minister, Tony Blair, in May 2005, in which he suggested that British society was becoming increasingly risk averse. The attitude towards risk, which Mr Blair claimed was leading to a compensation . . . [Full text of this article]

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