As a serial driver of tobacco control measures the Welsh Government is often over-looked and under-estimated.
Under Mark Drakeford, first minister of Wales and leader of Welsh Labour since 2018, Wales has led the race to ban smoking in school grounds, public playgrounds and hospital grounds.
Drakeford’s government has also banned smoking in holiday and temporary accommodation, and from September 1 smoking will be prohibited in mental health units (denying many patients the personal autonomy they crave).
In recent years smoking bans have also been introduced on several beaches in Wales, although those decisions have been made by local authorities not national government.
Curiously then a recent Welsh Government strategy document with a foreword by Lynne Neagle, deputy minister for mental health and wellbeing, is surprisingly light on further measures to achieve a ‘smoke-free Wales’ by 2030.
Don’t get me wrong, compared to ‘The Khan review: making smoking obsolete’ with its 14 recommendations, it’s a relief to read something as woolly as ‘A smoke-free Wales: Our long-term tobacco control strategy’ but as long as Drakeford is at the helm I wouldn’t be complacent.
This after all is the man who, as health minister, proposed banning the use of e-cigarettes in public places.
In 2018, as first minister, he proposed a ban on smoking in town and city centres and two years later his own health secretary committed to banning smoking outside cafes, pubs and restaurants.
The fact that none of these policies has been introduced probably has more to do with other factors such as the pandemic rather than a loss of nerve on Drakeford’s part, so it would be foolish to think the threat has gone away.
Anyway, BBC Wales belatedly covered the Welsh Government’s tobacco control strategy in a report published online yesterday.
Featuring quotes by Lynne Neagle, Suzanne Cass, chief executive of ASH Wales, and Katie Till, public affairs manager in Wales for Cancer Research UK, it also included a comment by me:
“Tobacco is a legal product and if adults choose to smoke that's a matter for them, not government. They cannot be forced to quit.
“The best way to further reduce smoking rates is not by introducing more anti-smoking measures but by educating young people about the health risks of smoking and encouraging existing smokers to switch to reduced risk products like e-cigarettes.”
Curiously the reference to reduced risk products was initially left out but was added after I drew attention to the omission on Twitter.
I did however acknowledge the fact that BBC Wales at least took the trouble to contact Forest for a quote.
However the BBC report also followed the common practice of ignoring adults who enjoy smoking and don’t want to quit in favour of speaking to an ex-smoker who said “I'm not coughing up mucus now, I generally feel healthier and I can taste my food”, and a reluctant social smoker:
Ruth Billingham, 42, from Cardiff, has been smoking on and off since she was a teenager.
She had long periods of not smoking, and has gone back to it due in social situations.
She said: "When I started smoking you could smoke inside pubs. I think it's a good thing that people aren't allowed to smoke in public places because I definitely would not have smoked as much as I have.
“At times when I've given up, I might start again because I'm on a night out, and it's just easy to have a cigarette.
“I would find it frustrating that I couldn't smoke outdoors. However, I do think in the long term it would be better for me because I wouldn't be able to smoke."
Are those views representative of most smokers? They’re probably representative of some smokers (especially those who are so weak-willed they need government intervention to help them quit), but the majority? I think not.
Unfortunately, as well giving greater power and influence to public health professionals, the pandemic has probably increased some people’s belief that responsibility for health (individual as well as public) should be sub-contracted to government.
In practise that means giving more power to politicians who will then use it to impose even greater restrictions on our lifestyles, whether that be eating, drinking or smoking.
Devolved governments love to be one step ahead of their neighbours, England especially, and tobacco control is a classic example of devolution in action.
Scotland was the first of the home nations to introduce an indoor workplace smoking ban. Now it’s Wales that is leading the ‘race’ to ban smoking in outdoor public places.
How that will pan out remains to be seen but don’t dismiss the impact of tobacco control policies in Wales on the rest of the UK.
See Smoking: Can Wales reach smoke-free status by 2030? (BBC Wales)