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If you thought it was only a certain former Indian minister who zealously wanted to put an end to smoking on screen, you’re wrong.
For a health group in the UK is trying to one up the ex-minister. Yes, it is planning to certify cartoons that have smoking scenes as 18+!
And, people are equally flabbergasted by the move like many across the world. “It’s quite funny to hear this because the cartoon Popeye single-handedly made spinach a craze in the US, and created awareness about healthy eating among youngsters. If you mention the word Popeye to any kid, I’m pretty sure a pipe will not figure even in the top five terms that they associate with the cartoon,” says software professional Nirmal Venkatranghan.
VJ Pooja, who is a self-confessed Popeye fan, says, “As a fan of Popeye, I can safely say that he doesn’t exactly smoke, in the truest sense of the word.” . . .
Agrees a volunteer from an NGO that preaches against smoking, “These are actions being taken by a few over-zealous individuals who are misguided in their efforts to restrict smoking.” He also offers a constructive alternative, “Instead, governments across the world should use these cartoons constructively to preach about the evil effects of smoking to children.” Now, here is someone talking reason. But will the folks who matter listen?
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Psychiatric units in England are experiencing considerable difficulties implementing the smoking ban that came into force last July. A report published last month by the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) says 85% of respondents to a survey it conducted said the ban had not been implemented "wholly effectively". Widespread practical problems reported included a rise in "secret smoking" - with associated safety concerns - and occasions where staff feel obliged to "turn a blind eye", especially when a patient is very unwell, thus placing them both in a position of breaking the law.
Two years ago, I wrote a piece expressing my concerns about the forthcoming ban. It seemed to me that the issue was a great deal more complex, both practically and morally, than a simple equation of "smoking is bad, therefore we must ban smoking". . . .
Policy-makers responded with a mixture of "guidance" and bullheadedness. "The 'smoking den' culture that has afflicted mental health wards for decades is over," said national director for mental health Louis Appleby, in a letter to this paper more than a year before the ban was even due to be brought in.
Some trusts have introduced the ban effectively, and their experience is informative. One trust quoted in the MHF report had introduced the ban in conjunction with "healthy lifestyle initiatives". It said that "every ward has stretch and movement to start the day, a gym, and staff trained to diploma level in physical healthcare".
If stopping smoking is to be seen as a positive choice, rather than the loss of yet another freedom, such initiatives would seem to be crucial, as would a healthy, nutrition-rich diet. I have never been on a ward that offered either.
My local mental health unit, which was purpose-built only a few years ago, does not have a gym at all. Nor, crucially, do wards have direct access to a safe outside space. . . .
If every ward could be provided with such facilities, most people would embrace the ban as a huge step forward. But that is not the reality most staff and patients face. . . .
The fact is that psychiatric wards contain people who are ill - some too ill to leave the ward and certainly too ill to appreciate the benefits of not smoking. In the interests of common humanity, staff are turning a blind eye and breaking the law. They shouldn't have to.
Mr M. Lipton (Lab.) asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the House of Commons yesterday what action he would take to co-ordinate the work of Government departments in publicising the danger of lung cancer caused by smoking.
Mr Lipton: Is it not cowardly or at least half-hearted for the Government to leave the whole of this important task to local councils? Aren't you well qualified to conduct a nation-wide campaign?
Dr Hill: The statutory responsibility of health education rests on local authorities and they can and will engage in health education on this subject.
Stopping smoking [leader]
What are the heavy smokers among us to do now? "Stop smoking," is the simple answer, but it is unlikely that a public pronouncement will have a dramatic effect on habits ingrained over several years. So it is natural to look to the Government for help. In many ways the Government has already done a good deal. The public endorsement given last week to the proposition that smoking can cause lung cancer should have some effect.
The Government's only fault has been that of procrastination. . . . These are only some of the pitfalls in the way of direct action by the Government. It is all very well calling it "cowardly and half-hearted". But what steps do the critics propose?
What I hate the most about cigarette smokers is that they litter by throwing their cigarettes on the ground and stepping on them, or sometimes they don't. Adult smokers are noticed by kids and kids are encouraged to smoke. Kids are like, "Hey, look how cool that guy is." Did you know breathing in cigarette smoke is dangerous and is known to cause emphysema and other cancers of the lungs?
Adults aren't the only ones who die from it, teenagers do, too. Most people that are around cigarette smoke for some of their lives are known to get severe asthma. I just want smokers to quit and stay healthy and enjoy the rest of their lives. I also want the environment to become cleaner from less littering.
A majority of adults believe cigarette vending machines in pubs should be abolished, a survey said today.
A poll by YouGov for Cancer Research UK found that 75 per cent of respondents were in favour of getting rid of the machines and 70 per cent want tobacco products out of sight in shops.
NEW research has showed the ban on smoking in public places is still as popular as it was on the two-year anniversary of being introduced.
On July 1, 2007, all public places and workplaces became smoke free, including shops, offices, factories, pubs, cafes, restaurants, membership clubs and work vehicles.
And in the 2009 national YouGov survey of 13,000 people, broken down by region, found that 80 percent of people in the north east say they support the smokefree law, with just 15 per cent opposing, while 90 per cent say the law is good for the health of workers and 82 per cent say it is good for their own health.
Ailsa Rutter, director of Fresh, said: "This new research highlights just how popular the smokefree law is.
The Department of Health is rolling out a new systems-based approach to improve stop smoking interventions in primary care. This new approach has increased referrals to local NHS Stop Smoking services by up to 49% in pilot areas.
People who are referred to local NHS Stop Smoking Services are up to four times more likely to quit.
The new approach was developed to ensure stop smoking interventions by healthcare professionals are routine and systematic, providing a tailored and consistent approach to patient referral. It will be rolled out to practices over the next few months by trained local NHS Stop Smoking Service advisers who will support its implementation in local primary care settings.
The approach recognises smoking as a key clinical issue requiring treatment or referral to a specialist, joining standard issues such as hypertension or high cholesterol.
The Isle of Wight is turning into a smoke-free zone for the day, becoming the first island in the UK to try to stamp out the scorned cigarette.
An arm stubs out a cigarette on the Isle of Wight's Needles
The move is to mark the second anniversary of the nationwide smoking ban in public buildings.
The Isle of Wight hopes it might lead to other UK cities doing the same and maybe even help create a smoke-free British Isles.
"We are delighted to lend our support to this campaign," said the IoW's assistant tourism director John Metcalfe.
. Jo O'Donnell has met with doctors and landlords to see how the rules have affected smoking - and drinking - habits across the North East
TWO years after smoking was banned in bars, pubs in the North East are reporting huge losses in custom and alcohol sales.
Across the country pubs and clubs are calling time and closing at a rate of 50 a week.
And now the full impact of the change has been felt, landlords say they have been let down over promises non-smokers and families would pour in to their clean-aired taverns.
The smoking ban came just months before the economy peaked, then came the recession damaging sales at a time when supermarkets are offering more cheap drink offers. . . .
Mr Le Clercq said: “Foody-gastro pubs, where they sell more on a plate than in a glass, are not affected and custom has increased.”
One such pub is The Beacon Hotel, Earsdon Road, in Whitley Bay. Bar worker and smoker Ewan Sutherland, 27, of North Shields says the hotel has got busier since the ban.
He said; “It is a good thing for the Beacon and good for all pubs, and the working atmosphere is better as you’re not breathing people’s smoke.” . . .
Meanwhile, pro-smoking campaigner Derek Platten, 56, of Gosforth, Newcastle, opposes the total smoking ban and has set up his own political party called the We Can Smoke Party (WCSP).
He said: “The smoking ban is only right if the Government is prepared to ban the sale of tobacco products, but they don’t because they know they wouldn’t get away with it.”
The smoking ban needs updating to offer shisha bar owners clearer advice, Harrow Council in west London has said.
The bars, where herbal tobacco can be smoked through a communal pipe, tend to have an awning open to the street.
But the law on outdoor smoking shelters means those with roofs should be at least 50% open, so air can circulate. . . .
As in any place of work, smoking is banned on the premises of all shisha bars, which are also known as hookah bars.
Councillor Susan Hall, Harrow's portfolio holder for the environment, said: "These cafes are becoming increasingly popular across London, but the legislation on smoking in public places wasn't framed with them in mind.
"It needs to be updated so all councils have clear guidance on what these cafe fittings should look like.
"We can then balance the right of customers to sit and enjoy the authentic shisha experience while continuing to deliver clean and safe streets."
Two Luton youngsters have shown how easy it is for children to buy cigerettes in a film made by the British Heart Foundation.
The footage, which is part of the charity's campaign to ban cigarette vending machines, featured 15-year olds Cordell Sutherland and Casey Philip from Ashcroft High School in Crawley Green Road.
Cordell and Casey used a hidden camera to secretly record themselves buying cigarettes from machines in three different pubs just yards away from the House of Parliament in London.
Each time they managed to buy cigarettes from the vending machines without being stopped or challenged about their age.
We seek a solution that is fair to smokers, non-smokers and staff alike. We consider it wholly unreasonable that, when up to half of our customers are regular smokers, we can make virtually no provision for them. However, we are also conscious that many pub-goers are keen on a smoke-free atmosphere. That is why we are calling for an amendment to the smoking ban, rather than its full repeal.
If we were allowed, for example, to provide separate smoking rooms while ensuring that non-smokers' preferences were catered for, we could improve our service without causing any upset.
For these reasons, we urge politicians of all parties to help save our pubs and clubs by introducing an amendment to the ban. If they don't, the traditional English pub will continue to wither on the vine.
Antony Worrall Thompson Save Our Pubs & Clubs, Cambridge
David Wright The Windmill, Cheshunt
Kevin Breslin The Beehive, Enfield . . .
A combination of cheap alcohol from supermarkets and shops, the ban on smoking in public places and changing lifestyles has conspired to place immense pressures on the traditional pub. . . .
In such circumstances, one would expect the pub industry to be straining every sinew to make their operations as attractive as possible to a dwindling customer base.
Not a bit of it, if today's report from the Commons business and enterprise select committee is anything to go by.
The MPs have found that the way pub firms compel their tenants to buy their alcohol from them is pushing up prices and leading to an "ever-increasing disparity" between beer prices in pubs and those in supermarkets, thereby undermining the viability of pubs.
Antony Worrall Thompson, the celebrity chef, is spearheading a campaign to overturn the ban on smoking in British pubs.
The Ready-Steady-Cook star and restaurateur is leading the Save Our Pubs & Clubs campaign calling for changes to the blanket ban which came into force in 2007.
Campaigners say the ban is "ripping the heart out" of British pubs, which are now closing at a rate of 40 a month, and want publicans to be allowed to tempt customers back by permitting smoking in some areas.
He said: "The smoking ban has had an extraordinarily detrimental effect on pubs and clubs and you can understand why. They used to be bastions of adult entertainment where young and old could meet and chat over a pint without the health police looking over their shoulders... The legislation as it stands is excessive and I would like to see it amended."
A SMOKER who dropped his cigarette butt in Cambridge is facing a bill for more than £400.
Environment bosses say tobacco-related littering has soared since the smoking ban was introduced in July 2007, and pursued the case against Tom Todd through the magistrates’ court.
The court heard Todd had been challenged by enforcement officer Yvonne Mackender for discarding the butt on Trinity Street in November last year.
Todd, of Colville Road, Cherry Hinton, gave her a false name but Cambridge City Council managed to identify him.