Now no smoking in cars
Source: Pawel Czerwinski en Unsplash
Ash Scotland calls for a ban on smoking in vehicles
An anti-smoking charity has called for a consultation on banning smoking in vehicles in Scotland.Ash Scotland made the call, along with 32 other recommendations, as part of a strategy to tackle "Scotland's biggest killer".
The charity said the change would highlight the impact of second-hand smoke on others.
However, the Tobacco Manufacturers' Association said such a move would be a "step too far".
Latest figures suggest a quarter of all adult deaths in Scotland can be attributed to smoking-related diseases.
Setting out their "Beyond Smoke Free" document, Ash Scotland said the country had taken major steps to cut smoking in the past six years, but that more needed to be done.
The document calls for a consultation on introducing legislation to ban smoking in vehicles and the development of "robust" intermediate and endpoint targets to reduce the effects of passive smoking in the home and in vehicles.
Other proposals in the document include calling for a UK law to require standardised, unbranded packaging of tobacco products and encouraging the UK government to increase tobacco industry accountability.
'Biggest killer'
Smoking reportedly costs the Scottish economy more than £837m each year and the NHS in Scotland more than £409m each year.
Ash Scotland's chief executive, Sheila Duffy, said: "Not everyone will agree with every single recommendation but I hope it will provoke debate about what more we need to do and how best we can use our resources to tackle Scotland's biggest killer."
The report showed that the highest smoking rates are found in the poorest communities, with rates in the most deprived areas at 43% compared with 9% in the least deprived.
In Scotland's most deprived areas, 32% of deaths are due to smoking compared to just 15% in the least deprived.
Ms Duffy said that while Scotland's smoke-free public places law had benefited the country, far too many people were still exposed to second-hand smoke.
She said that 27.4% of Scottish children were exposed to second-hand smoke in their own home, with 54% of babies and young children from the poorest backgrounds regularly exposed.
A Scottish government spokeswoman said: "While there are currently no plans to extend the smoke-free laws to private cars, the Scottish government is conscious that private cars are now one of the main places for exposure of children to second-hand smoke.
"In conjunction with our health improvement partners we are continuing to do all we can to highlight the risks posed by second-hand smoke."
A spokesman for the Tobacco Manufacturers' Association, which represent tobacco firms in the UK, said: "We discourage adults from smoking around children but the proposal to ban smoking in what is a private space is a step too far and an unwarranted intrusion on individual freedom."
He added: "In private vehicles adults should be free to smoke, provided they do not light up or smoke in a way that would distract from safe driving.
"They should also show due consideration for other occupants and dispose of cigarette ends responsibly in ashtrays."
One in four Scots still smoking says Ash report
Anti-smoking campaigners have urged ministers to "explore new ways" of reducing the damage done by tobacco.The plea came as Ash Scotland published its report showing that almost one in four Scots were smokers.
The report also showed that in the most deprived areas, smoking rates stood at 45% in 2008, compared to 11% in the most affluent of communities.
A ban on smoking in enclosed public places was introduced in Scotland in March 2006.
The Scottish government had said it wanted to cut the number of smokers in Scotland to about one in five.
However, the Ash Scotland State of the Nation report said: "Although we should be proud of the fall in smoking rates across Scotland, it is shocking that in many deprived areas, levels of smoking are as high now as they were in the general population in the early 1970s."
The report highlighted falling rates of youth smoking, with 15% of 15-year-olds regularly using tobacco in 2008, compared to a peak of 30% in 1996.
While the number of 16 to 24-year-olds who smoke fell between 1999 and 2004, this rose again, reaching 28% by 2008.
Sheila Duffy, chief executive of Ash Scotland, said the report showed tobacco control measures in Scotland had been a success - with smoking rates falling from 31% in 1999 to 24% over the decade.
However, she said: "Tobacco is still Scotland's biggest preventable killer and it is time to explore new ways to continue to reduce the harm caused by this lethal product.
"The action taken now will pay dividends in the future. Tackling tobacco will bring long term benefits to both the health of our nation and our wider economy."
'Cultural acceptability'
The Scottish government has passed new legislation which will ban the display of tobacco in shops and will also outlaw sales from cigarette vending machines.
Ms Duffy said that while Scotland had become a "world leader" in tobacco control measures, the country's high rates of smoking meant work was still needed to stop people lighting up.
According to the Ash study, there are currently about 13,500 adult deaths due to smoking every year in Scotland, with thousands of other people suffering from smoking-related illnesses.
A Scottish government spokeswoman said: "Since devolution, national tobacco control programmes, including the smoking ban in March 2006 and raising the age of purchase of tobacco from 16 to 18, have resulted in a shift in the cultural acceptability of smoking.
"The new Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 which was overwhelmingly endorsed by the Scottish Parliament will bring an end to displays of cigarettes in shops and cigarette sales from vending machines."
What do you think of the upcoming ban on smoking in public places in Spain?
Do you think that banning smoking in hospital grounds is a step too far?
What about banning smoking while driving?
Do you think that the ban will reduce the number of smokers?
Comments
I’m impressed because in this article it said that a quarter of all adult deaths in Scotland by diseases related to smoking. It isn’t surprise that it was necessary to adopt measures to tackle “Scotland’s biggest killer”. It was sad that in deprived areas, 32 per cent of deaths were due to smoking, while in the least deprived 15 percent and in 2008, smoking rates stood at 45 % in the most deprived areas, while in the most affluent of communities the same rate was 11 %. I see that Scotland had become a “world leader” in tobacco control measures.
I wonder how many Spanish people died for smoking before a ban on smoking? In my opinion, the most important thing which Psoe did in Spain was a ban on smoking. The banning of smoking in public places is a good idea, but not only in public places but everywhere. Of course, in hospital grounds we haven’t to smoke, never and nobody. I think I’m drastic but I would ban to smoke while driving. In my opinion, the ban reduces the number of smokers, I’m sure, even though it’s possible that some smokers increase the number of cigarettes.
I wish you luck.
I might enjoy the odd drink but would you believe I have never been a smoker.
Smoking never really bothered me. I didn't mind being in the company of smokers. Since the ban, I have changed. I dislike smokey environments now.
I’m impressed because in this article it said that a quarter of all adult deaths in Scotland are due to diseases related to smoking. It isn’t surprising that ... I see that Scotland has become a “world leader” in tobacco control measures.
I wonder how many Spanish people died of smoking before a ban on smoking? In my opinion, the most important thing which the PSOE did in Spain was a ban on smoking. The banning of smoking in public places is a good idea, but not only in public places but everywhere. Of course, in hospital grounds we mustn't smoke. I think it is being drastic but I would ban smoking while driving. In my opinion, the ban reduces the number of smokers, I’m sure, even though it’s possible that some smokers increase the number of cigarettes.
I wish you luck.
(Is that a ZP way of saying goodbye?)