The implementation of the law to end the display of tobacco in shops in Scotland has gotten over its first hurdle.
Cigarette vending machines would also be banned and a new registration scheme will be introduced for retailers under the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services Bill.
According to Scottish ministers this is an important step in tackling the smoking-health related problems that Scotland is facing.
The bill has been attacked on several sides, with the Tories voting against it and the Tobacco Retailers Alliance also raising some questions. It is felt that this law will cost shops a lot of money, which is the last thing small businesses need in this time of economic crisis.
However, it is more than likely that this legislation will go through. Public Health Minister Shona Robison says: "Some 15,000 children and young people start to smoke each year in Scotland and the potential impact on their health is frightening."
It is felt that the displays in shops are also a form of advertising and that they draw our attention to cigarettes. Yeah, sure. This will help… bankrupt small shops, only.
[Via: BBC]
In the land of freedom, it seems that smokers are the about the only group of people that is not able to freely pursue their habit. New York City officials have begun the debate on whether or not to ban smoking in parks and outdoor areas, which means that many European countries might follow in the future, as well.
Smokers have already been driven outside of any enclosed indoor public places, but now even the option for having a quick smoke outside will also be taken away.
There is little opportunity for this process to be turned around, as anti-smoking campaigner Michael Bloomberg, is up for re-election as mayor.
Tobacco company Phillip Morris USA responded to the idea saying, "We believe that smoking should be permitted outdoors except in very particular circumstances, such as outdoor areas primarily designated for children."
Though this ban is sure to go into effect on some level, it is logistically impossible to implement it over thousands of acres…
[Via: The Guardian]
Residents of New Jersey have been taking their cigarettes outdoors for three years now. But one top lawmaker wants them to quit puffing outside as well.
This proposal could be taken up by the end of the year and it would ban smoking in public parks and beaches.
Sen. Barbara Buono, plans to introduce a bill when Legislature returns, and she says, "It's moved beyond a nuisance to a health hazard."
Recently New York City's health commissioner announced a similar plan, giving the push for New Jersey; this is all a result of the national debate over healthcare costs.
Buono says, "Parks and beaches are the place people go with children in order to breathe the fresh air and to exercise and to be out in the sun." She adds, smokers "don't have a right to impose these health risks on the non-smoking public."
It's not even a question of what smokers have the right to do and not do, it is simply decided for them. In large open outdoor areas, second-smoke probably has as much of a negative effect (even less) as car exhaust fumes, and nobody is taking steps to ban cars.
[Via: nj.com]
People like David Hockney come few and far apart. He feels that the Labour Government got in the way of his smoking and he hates them for it.
The 72-year-old British man has been smoking all his life. He is part of a group of MPs who are vouching for the ban to be loosened. This group has members from all political parties who want designated smoking rooms to be allowed in pubs.
The turning point for Hockney was when he found out that he was no longer to smoke at the outside tables of his regular cafe in Yorkshire. This ban was implemented because the owners of the cafe were afraid the law would be breached if smoke from the outdoor tables wafted in.
Hockney says that Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Tony Blair are responsible for these prohibitions and that he "loathes them for it."
This sentiment is understandable, especially for a person who has gotten used to this way of life and has spent third quarters of a century smoking. It is really a breach of our freedoms if we can't even use outdoor air the way we want to…
[Via: DailyMail]
Colleges and universities worldwide are starting to implement campus-wide smoking bans. The University of Georgia is not sure it is going to follow this trend, according to one administrator.
Tom Jackson, vice president for public affairs said, "Our philosophy is to protect students and personnel from the effects of secondhand smoke, but we try not to legislate against individual habits."
Smoking is prohibited, under the university's policy adopted in 2006, in dormitories, outside areas adjacent to buildings and all indoor facilities.
There are outdoor "buffer zones" are different for each building, the purpose of these zones is to prevent smoke from going through doorways and ventilation systems.
Administrators at the university feel it is more important to make it more clear which areas these zones encompass. On large university campuses this is the most logical route to take.
[Via: redandblack]
