I returned back from Australia last August. On my return I felt I had
been accustomed to the norm of the smoke free environment. I was
delighted to hear about banning of smoking in public enclosures and work
places which commenced on July 1st 2007. It will ensure that bars, cafes,
pub and clubs have to comply with this rule. Public venues outdoors are
exempt from this. The rest of the UK has already successfully implemented
this over the last two years.
It was clear the differences in bars/clubs/cafes in Australia whereby
you would never have to endure the passive inhalation of these noxious
fumes or suffer from the occasional accidental cigarette burn and not to
mention the trail of cigarette smoke that lingers on all.
It is interesting how the trends have changed over tome. How often on
history taking from the elderly population do they reveal that they are ex
-smokers and on further questioning – their response for why they
initially took it up was ‘you weren’t deemed a man in those days if you
didn’t’. The trends have considerably changed especially since the work
of Sir Richard Doll and his work confirming the link with lung cancer in
the 50’s and plus the banning of cigarette smoking on televisions in the
60’s. The 90’s saw the glamourising of smoking by ‘cool’ movie stars on
film which arguably has been a negative influence on the younger
generation. Hopefully this new law will be considered another milestone in
years to come.
There will be plenty of benefits which will be seen and clearly there
will be a significant effect on reducing risk factors for ishaemic heart
disease, various cancers and chronic obstructive heart disease. It will
clearly also benefit those patients who regularly inform us that they no
longer smoke except occasionally when in a bar. The other side of the
argument would suggest that this is breaching ones civil liberties and
where would this end – alcohol, fatty foods…. Interestingly some venues
are attempting to tackle a decrease in forecasting takings by applying for
licensing outdoors.
My personal thoughts are why has it taken so long and 1st July 2007
could be a historic day for our nation’s health!
Rapid Response:
Personal View of Smoking
I returned back from Australia last August. On my return I felt I had
been accustomed to the norm of the smoke free environment. I was
delighted to hear about banning of smoking in public enclosures and work
places which commenced on July 1st 2007. It will ensure that bars, cafes,
pub and clubs have to comply with this rule. Public venues outdoors are
exempt from this. The rest of the UK has already successfully implemented
this over the last two years.
It was clear the differences in bars/clubs/cafes in Australia whereby
you would never have to endure the passive inhalation of these noxious
fumes or suffer from the occasional accidental cigarette burn and not to
mention the trail of cigarette smoke that lingers on all.
It is interesting how the trends have changed over tome. How often on
history taking from the elderly population do they reveal that they are ex
-smokers and on further questioning – their response for why they
initially took it up was ‘you weren’t deemed a man in those days if you
didn’t’. The trends have considerably changed especially since the work
of Sir Richard Doll and his work confirming the link with lung cancer in
the 50’s and plus the banning of cigarette smoking on televisions in the
60’s. The 90’s saw the glamourising of smoking by ‘cool’ movie stars on
film which arguably has been a negative influence on the younger
generation. Hopefully this new law will be considered another milestone in
years to come.
There will be plenty of benefits which will be seen and clearly there
will be a significant effect on reducing risk factors for ishaemic heart
disease, various cancers and chronic obstructive heart disease. It will
clearly also benefit those patients who regularly inform us that they no
longer smoke except occasionally when in a bar. The other side of the
argument would suggest that this is breaching ones civil liberties and
where would this end – alcohol, fatty foods…. Interestingly some venues
are attempting to tackle a decrease in forecasting takings by applying for
licensing outdoors.
My personal thoughts are why has it taken so long and 1st July 2007
could be a historic day for our nation’s health!
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests