7:00am Thursday 4th February 2010
By Hayley Court
SMOKERS in Swindon could soon find themselves pushed further out in the cold when they want to light up.
The Government is threatening to extend the cigarette ban outdoors to include entrances to workplaces, bus shelters and even pub beer gardens.
Andy Burnham, the health secretary, is to review the law to see if it should be bolstered to include areas where smokers have gathered since the 2007 ban.
An extension of the ban, which currently covers enclosed spaces, to include busy but open-air areas such as office doorways and pub gardens would also reduce passive smoking, Department of Health (DoH) officials believe.
However, Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ lobby group Forest, said further restrictions would “further erode our ability to choose how we wish to live our lives”.
The number of smokers has fallen by a quarter in the past decade, but an estimated 200,000 young people start smoking every year.
Figures from the NHS Information centre show that almost 2,000 people in Wiltshire quit the habit with help from local health services over a sxith-month period.
Mr Burnham said: “Most smokers start before they are 18, so we have to discourage children and young people from ever starting.
“Now that we’ve banned advertising and will soon see an end to attractive displays in shops, the only remaining method of advertising tobacco is the packaging. So we will carefully consider whether there is evidence for making tobacco companies use plain packets.
“We will always help people to quit, and smokers should never stop trying. That’s the beauty of the NHS – it’s there to help everyone.
“One day, in the not too distant future, we’ll look back and find it hard to remember why anyone ever smoked in the first place.”
His review, which will begin in July, will look at public spaces outside buildings.
In addition to the entrances to office blocks, he will examine the effects of smoking areas outside pubs, bars and nightclubs as well as bus shelters.
Mr Clark, of Forest, said the Government had already introduced “some of the most Draconian anti-smoking laws in the world”, adding: “In an allegedly free society, this is nothing to be proud of.”
He said: “The current smoking ban, which has had a devastating impact on community pubs and clubs, is out of all proportion to the harm allegedly caused by second-hand smoke. Further restrictions will only accelerate that trend.”
More than 80,000 deaths are attributed to smoking ever year, costing the NHS £2.7 billion a year, according to the Department of Health
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