Royal Society for Public Health Calls for Banning Outdoor Smoking in the UK

Introduction of a smoking exclusion zone around bars, restaurants and schools will reduce the convenience of smoking that can ultimately save many lives.

Smoking should be banned outside bars and restaurants to make more people quit it, says a new study.

The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) said that ‘exclusion zones’ around pubs, in parks and at the entrances to schools must be created. By reducing the ‘convenience’ of smoking will also prompt more people to give up.

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“By reducing the prominence of smoking in public locations, particularly those visited by children, we can ensure that smoking is no longer seen as a normal or safe activity,” it said.

“Instead, they should be encouraged to switch to safer sources of nicotine such as e-cigarettes. It must be renamed as ‘nicotine sticks’ or ‘vaporizers’ to distance the technology from tobacco,” it added.

The organization, which represents more than 6,000 public health professionals, also said that doctors must also work harder to promote e-cigarettes, nicotine patches, gum and lozenges.

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The RSPH said, “nicotine by itself is not more harmful than caffeine – a fact its research suggests which is misunderstood by 90 per cent of the population. But smoking tobacco, which contains tar and other chemicals, kills 100,000 people a year in the UK.”

RSPH chief executive Shirley Cramer said, “Introduction of a smoking exclusion zone around bars, restaurants and schools will further reduce the convenience of smoking, and we believe has the potential to move smokers to safer forms of nicotine, which could ultimately save many lives in the process.”

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The report said that more than 400,000 smokers quit in the 12 months after the indoor ban was introduced.

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Source-Medindia