Antismoking groups lobby against Lords report

Antismoking groups have hit back at a report by the Economic Affairs Committee of the House of Lords, published last week (BMJ 2006;332:1349, 10 Jun), which slated bans on smoking in public places as an “over-reaction to the scientific evidence on passive smoking.”

The committee, which was looking into threats to personal liberty and the management of risk, said that compared with the risks associated with passive smoking in the home those associated with smoking in public places was minor.

But the lobby group Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) described the report as …