Bristol's "voluntary smoking ban" on BBC Points West
Tuesday, February 3, 2015 at 22:08 This was broadcast on BBC Points West last night.
Note how advocates of a "voluntary ban" on smoking in outdoor public areas talk about the "success" of similar schemes in children's play parks as if kids' play areas are now the template for all future public smoking policies.
At this rate smoking will eventually be banned anywhere a child might conceivably be present.
Still on the subject of Bristol's "voluntary ban" (an oxymoron if ever I heard one), this morning I was on BBC Radio Ulster with Andrew Dougal, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Chest, Heart and Stroke Association.
Dougal kept banging on about someone he knew, who has severe asthma, being stuck behind a smoker in what I took to be an all-seated sports stadium.
Apart from the fact that few if any all-seater stadiums still allow smoking, what does that have to do with smoking in a public square where people are at liberty move around and if you don't like being exposed to the tiniest whiff of smoke you simply walk away?
In the context of an open air park or square, Dougal's example had no relevance whatsoever.
He spoke of being "enveloped" by smoke if someone lit up outside, a claim that was so ludicrous one of the presenters picked him up on it.
Last but not least, Dougal insisted that under the Bristol scheme smokers still had "freedom of choice" whether to light up or not.
He used the expression as if it was his trump card, ignoring the fact that Smokefree South West hope the policy will give non-smokers the confidence to walk up to smokers and ask them to stub out their cigarettes.
The truth is, tobacco controllers will twist and bend their arguments to suit their purpose. They have no shame.
H/T David Newell (@dnglos) for posting the BBC Points West report online.
Reader Comments (3)
Outdoor smoking bans are unnecessary. The goal isn't health; the goal is social control. They are a stepping stone toward total prohibition. Reject outdoor smoking bans (and amend pub bans to allow indoor smoking options).
That woman doesn't half talk rubbish without actually answering the questions put to her.
"we're not looking to enforce this legally". Pull the other one Katie.
Re the studio interview, I look forward to seeing her objections when someone decides to make the ban compulsory.