The National Clean Air Award

Opinion piece: how everyone is looking forward to the smoking ban

An opinion piece by Tom Reed, Editor of MSN News, on why smokers and non-smokers alike are looking forward to the ban. Below is an extract.

‘The smoking ban in England is now less than a month away, for most people it can’t arrive quickly enough. It is not only non-smokers who are eagerly awaiting the new law that will criminalise smoking in public places in England, but many smokers too.

The one great shame about the ban is that it has taken so long to be introduced. The long list of dangerous side effects from smoking has not just been discovered, we have known about it for decades, so it really is absurd that it has taken until now for anything to be done about it. Even within the UK, England was the last country to introduce a ban. Previous governments might have feared a major backlash from bringing in such a drastic measure, so the current government should be applauded for what appears to be a very bold decision. Attitudes towards smoking are changing. People are gradually becoming more health conscious and it could be argued that the government simply spotted that trend and took advantage of it to get the timing right. Whether or not that’s true is irrelevant: the smoking ban is long overdue and its introduction, irrespective of the reasoning, should be welcomed.

Non-smokers are obviously looking forward to July 1, but it will be the smokers who benefit the most. There are many different types of smoker, ranging from the hardened 40-a-day smoker to the social smoker or the young smoker just discovering tobacco. Despite the variation in the ways people consume cigarettes, however, the ban will benefit all smokers.

Most smokers don’t want to smoke. Despite what they might say, the majority would switch to a smokefree lifestyle at the drop of a hat if they didn’t have to go through any kind of withdrawal phase. So the ban will act as an incentive.

The 40-a-day smoker will probably smoke less because they won’t be able to smoke in many places, the social smoker might quit entirely and the young smoker might not start because the peer pressure of smoking in a pub or bar will be gone. Everyone is a winner.

There are smokers who say the ban will infringe on their personal liberties and freedom. Perhaps it will, but the people who suggest that are most likely to be the ones who are so addicted to nicotine that the thought of living without it terrifies them. Therefore, they aren’t free at the moment. They don’t necessarily choose to smoke, they smoke because they are addicted. The ban doesn’t infringe on their liberties any more than their smoking already does: it just spares everyone else breathing in their secondhand smoke.

England will become a different place to live when it goes smoke-free on July 1, but it will be a better place for it. There will only be a very small, selfish minority kicking up a fuss about it and when they take a long hard look at why they’re upset about it, they will probably change their minds. Most smokers already know their lives will improve once the ban is in place and those that don’t will be pleasantly surprised once they’ve acclimatised to the new legislation.’

Source: MSN 6 June 2007

Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/26952q