Govt considering smokefree extension
Monday, 1 February 2010 10:36 AM
The government could extend smokefree legislation to include areas like the entrances of buildings, it has announced.
Its 'A Smokefree Future' strategy contains a pledge to review the existing law on secondhand smoke, which bans smoking in enclosed public places and workplaces.
The industry has accused ministers of establishing a "dictatorial approach to tobacco control" after the strategy pledged to halve the number of smokers by 2020.
Health secretary Andy Burnham said only ten per cent of Britons will be smokers in ten year's time, compared to 21 per cent today.
But the strategy to achieve this has been attacked by tobacco lobbyists, who believe "legitimate businesses and citizens alike" are facing "unwarranted restrictions" from measures like the tobacco display ban.
In addition to the smokefree ban extenson proposal the Department of Health plans to crack down on cheap illicit cigarettes, expand NHS support for those who want to quit and stop the sale of tobacco from vending machines.
Since the government's last tobacco strategy in 1998 the number of smokers has fallen by a quarter.
"We will always help people to quit, and smokers should never stop trying," Mr Burnham said.
"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."
Seven out of ten smokers want to give up, the government claims.
The Tobacco Manufacturers Association's chief executive, Christopher Ogden, said the best solution to the youth smoking problem was better application of proof-of-age requirements.
"The focus on measures that are not backed up by any credible evidence is a distraction from the need to enforce existing laws," he said.
"It is contradictory to declare an intention to reduce illicit trade and then to favour ineffective measures, such as the display ban, that actually facilitate illicit trade.
"The government's dictatorial approach to tobacco control is hardly conducive to changing consumer lifestyle choices."
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