Consequences of Banning Smoking

Consequences of Banning Smoking

  • Submitted By: OsFyah
  • Date Submitted: 01/09/2014 10:24 AM
  • Category: Social Issues
  • Words: 1160
  • Page: 5
  • Views: 42

The sight of employees smoking outdoors in all weathers is now commonplace. Smoking areas in bars, pubs, restaurants and hotels are long gone.
It is five years since England became the last part of the UK to introduce legislation banning smoking in workplaces and enclosed public spaces.
The aim was to reduce passive smoking, or exposure to secondhand smoke, which is known to be harmful.
Scotland was the first country in the UK to introduce a smokefree law in March 2006.
England's smokefree laws came into force on 1 July 2007, with Northern Ireland on 30 April 2007 and Wales on 2 April 2007.
So what has been the impact of the legislation on our health?
'Hugely beneficial'
Amanda Sandford, research manager from Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) says it was long overdue.
"When it started people wondered why we'd waited so long to do it. Non-smokers always found it unpleasant breathing in other people's smoke.
Continue reading the main story
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“Start Quote
Thanks to the ban many smokers are smoking and drinking at home - who can blame them when the alternative is standing outside in the wind and rain?”
Simon ClarkForest
"It is one of the most important public health acts in the last century. There's no question it's been hugely beneficial."
The ban was popular with British adults when it was implemented - and a recent poll of more than 12,000 people found that 78% of adults still support it.
A review of the evidence on the impact of the law in England, was commissioned by the government and carried out by Prof Linda Bauld from the University of Stirling and the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies.
Prof Bauld's report concluded: "The law has had a significant impact."
"Results show benefits for health, changes in attitudes and behaviour and no clear adverse impact on the hospitality industry."
A study of barworkers, using saliva, lung function and air quality tests, showed their respiratory health...

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