Here's the interview I did with Euronews last week.
Also on the programme, Euronews Now, was Derek Yach, president of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World and a former WHO cabinet director.
Dr Yach's tone was superficially emollient on the issue of banning smoking outside. He didn't refute my point that smoking outside is not a public health issue because it's not health risk to non-smokers, but he wasn't averse to banning smoking where people are eating or where there are a large numbers of people.
The underlying message from Yach and other in tobacco control is not that smoking outside puts non-smokers at risk but that it doesn't help smokers (many of whom are said to have mental health issues) quit.
Dr Yach didn't use the word but I've heard others say that extending the smoking ban to outdoor areas "empowers" smokers to quit, which is an interesting way of looking at it.
Either way it involves prohibition and coercion (forcing people not to smoke) so I'm not sure what that will do for the mental health of smokers who simply want to sit outside their local bar (where they are not allowed to smoke inside) and have a quiet cigarette with their drink and/or friends.
Anyway, you can watch it here. At one point I had to politely question whether the interviewer was actually listening to me.
I felt a bit bad about that but judge for yourself.
PS. At the end of the clip you can see me trying to respond to something Dr Yach had said but they muted me!
All I was trying to say was that governments should focus on the carrot (reduced risk options to cigarettes) not the stick (smoking bans).