Ban smoking in UK parks and squares says Labour peer
Wednesday, February 25, 2015 at 23:20 A Labour health minister is calling for ban on smoking in UK parks and beaches.
Remarkably, and to his credit, our old friend Professor Simon Chapman "says there is no scientific justification for such a draconian attack on basic freedoms":
Here's Forest's response, which we released earlier today (the BMJ press release was embargoed until 11.30pm):
"The ban on smoking in enclosed public places was introduced, allegedly, to protect the health of bar workers.
"There's nothing to suggest that lighting up in the open air is harmful to anyone other than the smoker.
"Campaigners say a ban will discourage children from smoking but there's no evidence that the sight of a stranger smoking encourages children to start.
"The principal reasons are peer pressure and the influence of family members.
"We must be careful we don't create a world only puritans can inhabit.
"Tobacco is a legal product and smokers pay £10 billion a year in tobacco taxation alone.
"If they're not permitted to smoke in any pub or club, smokers must be allowed to light up outside without being harassed or made to feel uncomfortable."
This afternoon I was asked about my availability to appear on BBC Breakfast in the morning. Thankfully I've heard no more. For once I won't be getting up at 3.00am and driving to Salford ...
Reader Comments (2)
"the logic of protecting children from the sight of smoking "is pernicious and… redolent of totalitarian regimes in their penchants for repressing various liberties, communication, and cultural expression not sanctioned by the state"
Simon Chapman is quite right.
The only people I've read of being banned from parks and beaches was in Germany.
1935 - banned from parks
1938 - excluded from beaches
Not a path we'd want to follow here.
As well as rabid ideology, it wouldn't surprise me if Pharma and their wealthy, influential shareholders are playing a big part behind all these, smoking and vaping, bans in order to force interim use of their NRTs. Vaping is destroying their smoking cessation market and the majority of smokers will never use their products, so this seems an obvious way to try and reverse the trend and increase business.
Clearly it's well accepted by opponents that people are addicted to cigarettes, via pimped up nicotine, so forcing them against their will to stop using a perfectly legal addictive product outside, too, or be segregated/discriminated against further, when the whole idea of bans was purely to prevent pretend harm from shs exposure in indoor spaces, is against their human rights. As for picking a variety of locations, with the claim of protecting children from seeing people lighting up; it's not feasible when children will always routinely see it happening in plenty of other places and even more so thanks to TC indoor bans, now is it? It's just another sneaky step towards full prohibition outside the home. What message does all this lying, cheating, bullying, segregating and hyped up hatred of smokers and vapers send to the chiiildren, when they're constantly being told such behaviour is totally unacceptable?
These people think they're untouchable and these ridiculous measures are getting more and more out of hand. I can't help but think that crowdfunding legal fight backs is the only way to nip them in the bud. People are beginning to see the blatant lies and junk science used against vaping and I hope it leads them to question the 'evidence' against smoking, which I personally think is, to some extent, used as the scapegoat for other harmful products.