30 things to do before I'm 30

1.12.06

Day 5: Feeling tres smug...

How sanctimonious do you think I was when I heard this on 6Music news this morning:

England's Smoking Ban in Pubs and Public Places Begins July 1
By Reed V. Landberg

Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- England's public spaces, including pubs, restaurants and private clubs, must be smoke-free beginning on July 1, 2007, the Department of Health said today.

Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt said the ban approved by Parliament in July 2006 comes into force at 6 a.m. and will extend to work vehicles used by more than one person. The law also bans indoor smoking rooms in offices.

'Secondhand smoke kills,' Hewitt said in a statement in London. 'Thousands of people's lives will be saved and the health of thousands more protected.'

The measures will hit hardest in 60,000 pubs, where smoking has been permitted since Sir Walter Raleigh popularized it in the 16th-century court of Queen Elizabeth I.

The ban may cut revenue to pub companies about 8 percent, according to the consulting firm KPMG International. Pub owners including Mitchells & Butlers Plc and Enterprise Inns Plc argued in favor of a ban with no loopholes to maintain a level competitive field against 20,000 private clubs.

Only Bhutan and Scotland have more restrictive smoking laws. Bhutan bars the sale of tobacco, while Scotland doesn't allow smoking by actors on stage, an exemption lawmakers allowed in England. Ireland, Northern Ireland, Italy, Finland, Norway and Sweden also have smoking restrictions in place.

Wales is planning to adopt restrictions along the lines of those approved in England.



No sweat!

*strokes nicotine patch*
*polishes halo*

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