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'Will endanger staff, prisoners': Tensions spark over UK prison smoking ban


Sputnik
Tue, 02 Jan 2018 19:24 UTC
Wormwood Scrubs prison in London
© AFP 2017/POOL/PAUL HACKETT
A prison officer, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Sputnik that plans to roll out the smoking ban across all prisons in England and Wales in 2018 will endanger staff and prisoners.

"The impact of banning prisoners from smoking will have a detrimental effect on their mental health and that concerns me. Staff are already under pressure and at risk of violence. Forcing prisoners to give up will lead to more aggressive behaviour," the officer told Sputnik.

Inmates at HMP Birmingham, a prison plagued with riots and violence, recently chanted "we want burn" relating to a recent smoking ban.

A year after inmates rioted for 12 hours causing US$8 million worth of damage across four prison wings, the situation at HMP Birmingham remains "volatile," according to a prison officer union.
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Smoking

British Columbia Ferries bans smoking on ships and at all terminals


CBC News
Tue, 22 Aug 2017 15:30 UTC
BC ferry
© Susan Maclean
BC Ferries will ban smoking on all ships and at all of its terminals by January 2018.

They will also forbid passengers from remaining in cars on closed decks during sailings starting in October.

In a release, BC Ferries says the smoking ban came from provincial regulations that increased no-smoking buffer zones from three metres to six metres around any "doorway, intake or open window" to a public space or workplace.

They say buffer zones of that size are impossible to maintain on vessels and decided to extend the no-smoking policy to terminals as well.

"This new policy supports the health and wellness of our customers and employees, as it helps control their exposure to secondhand smoke," said BC Ferries President and CEO Mark Collins in a statement.
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Smoking

South Korea extends smoking ban to pool halls, other indoor sports facilities

Kim Min-Joo
The Korea Herald
Mon, 04 Dec 2017 16:45 UTC
S. Korea anti-smoking campaigners
© Ministry of Health & Welfare
Pool halls, screen golf studios and other indoor sports facilities are among popular leisure destinations for jaded urban dwellers to blow off some steam, often followed by a puff of cigarette.

However, these indoor sports and leisure facilities are going smoke-free under the new legislative ban that came into force Sunday.

With the latest amendment to the National Health Promotion Act, the smoking ban has been extended onto some 56,000 indoor sports and leisure facilities nationwide, including 21,980 pool halls and 9,222 indoor golf studios.

Lighting up in these facilities is now an offense carrying up to a 100,000 won ($92) fine
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Smoking

Frenchies mock proposed ban on smoking in films


The Local
Mon, 20 Nov 2017 19:23 UTC
gerard depardeau smoking
A proposal that France should ban the cigarette from the silver screen has been met with widespread derision and mockery among the French.

French cinema is full of images of stars like Brigitte Bardot and Gerard Depardieu delivering cool lines with a cigarette perfectly poised in one hand.

But all that could be about to end if Senator Nadine Grelet-Certenais gets her way after she reignited the debate over whether smoking should be shown on the big screen.

The film-making industry in France has long been accused of "normalizing" smoking and Grelet-Certenais said the industry is practically "advertising for the consumption of tobacco".
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Smoking

UK cigarette prices could jump for the second time in a year

Rachel Roberts
Independent
Mon, 20 Nov 2017 21:02 UTC
smoking
© Getty Images
Around ten million adults in the UK are smokers - in spite of the ever increasing cost.
Speculation has mounted about whether the cost of cigarettes is set to increase for a second time in a year in Wednesday's Budget.

Since the Chancellor already announced an increase in the price of cigarettes in March, the UK's 10 million smokers are hoping to be spared another hike, which could push the cost of the average pack to over £10.

This week's Budget is unusual in that it will be the second one this year - which normally only happens when there is a change of government. Philip Hammond effectively gets a second bite of the cherry with the nation's finances, because last year he announced the 2017 Autumn Statement would become an Autumn Budget, with a much smaller "Spring Statement" next year.

Tobacco is subject to an automatic, annual increase in duty of two per cent above the rate of inflation, with the average cost of 20 cigarettes standing at £9.91 in March after the spring budget slapped an extra 35p on a pack.
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Laptop

Violators of Beijing smoking ban are being reported using social media app WeChat


Xinhua News
Thu, 09 Nov 2017 21:02 UTC
Smoker in Bejing, China
© City Lab
An increasing number of reports related to smoking in indoor public places have been made on China's popular social networking app WeChat.

Beijing Tobacco Control Association said its official account on WeChat, "Smoke-Free Beijing" received 2,717 reports from August to October.

It said an average of 900 reports have been received every month, with an increase of 50 percent compared with that of the second quarter of the year. The complaints were mainly concerning restaurants, office buildings and Internet cafes.

Smoking controls have made some progress in the city, said the association, adding that medical institutions, schools and hotels have seen greater improvement among other indoor public places.
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Smoking

South Africa drafts legislation to ban smoking in all public places

Tom Head
The South African
Sat, 11 Nov 2017 19:44 UTC
Tobacco smoke
© Pixabay/realhardwork
You may not light up at the bar. You may not light up near your car. And you can't start smoking on designated floors... You cannot even smoke indoors.

These are effectively the proposals being set out by the Department of Health. But they have been less 'Dr Seuss' about it than us. Their draft legislation aims to prohibit smoking in all public areas, whether that's indoors our outside.

Draft legislation plans to ban smoking in all public places

Designated smoking areas would be consigned to the history books, should this bill become ratified in Parliament. It's all part of the government's wider war on cigarettes, which also features plans to ban the display of smokes at retailers, and to remove all recognisable branding from cigarette packs.
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Crusader

'Addio' holy smokes: Vatican bans sale of cigarettes

Philip Pullella
Reuters
Thu, 09 Nov 2017 06:44 UTC
Man smoking
© Reuters/Laszlo Balogh (file photo)
Pope Francis has ordered a ban on the sale of cigarettes inside the Vatican from next year because of health concerns, a spokesman said on Thursday.

"The motive is very simple: the Holy See cannot be cooperating with a practice that is clearly harming the health of people," spokesman Greg Burke said in a statement.

He cited World World Health Organization (WHO) statistics that smoking causes more than seven million deaths worldwide every year.

Cigarettes have been sold at a discounted price to Vatican employees and pensioners.

Vatican employees are allowed to buy five cartons of cigarettes a month. Many Italians ask their non-smoking friends who work in the Vatican to buy cigarettes for them because they cost much less than in Italy, where they are subject to heavy taxes.
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Smoking

Israel's Health Ministry to ban smoking at outdoor events, other public places

Ido Efrati
Haaretz
Tue, 07 Nov 2017 20:35 UTC
Man smoking a cigarette
© Haaretz
The Health Ministry is seeking to expand the ban on smoking in public places to several currently exempted venues, including outdoor events, sports fields and playgrounds.

The rules have been submitted to the Knesset Labor, Welfare and Health Committee and will take effect once the committee approves them.

Aside from the ban on smoking at open-air events, which tend to be very crowded, the new rules would also ban smoking everywhere in hospitals - though they do allow hospital directors to designate certain areas as smoking areas.
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Smoking

Anti-smoking hysteria: Australian mother calls on gov't to ban smoking around children, labels it child abuse


Yahoo7 News
Wed, 08 Nov 2017 08:06 UTC
Person smoking in a car
© Getty Images
A Sydney mother is calling on the NSW government to issue a total ban on smoking around children, labelling it as child abuse.

Nina Belle said she was driving along Old Northern Road in Castle Hill when she saw three adults smoking alongside a toddler in a pram, with the smoke "blowing in the poor child's face".

Left in an absolute rage by what she saw, the young mum started a petition, calling on the state government to take action.

She is calling on those parents who do smoke around their children to be fined and given "ample education and support to quit, including counselling".

"I believe exposing babies and children to ongoing passive smoke is a form of child abuse. This view might sound outrageous, but it's not," Ms Belle wrote in her petition.


Comment: There isn't much (if any) real scientific evidence for second-hand smoking causing any health issues.


"We intervene when children are neglected due to alcohol or drug addictions, and we should intervene when children are exposed to ongoing second-hand smoke.

Comment: See also:

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