Tobacco.org

Smokers Barred From Adopting or Fostering Children / / Ban Reportedly First to Apply to Children Regardless of Age 

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), America's first antismoking organization, has helped convince more than a dozen states to prohibit smoking in homes where foster children live, and also helped to persuade judges in the great majority of states to issue orders prohibiting smoking in the homes of children involved in custody disputes. ASH Wales was a major factor in persuading the Merthyr Tydfil Council to take this latest step, which involves both adoption and foster care.

However, this move is not unprecedented. Several years ago a couple has been told they cannot adopt a child because the husband smokes, even though he claims he never smokes indoors. Indeed, the prohibition stands until he quits smoking for six months and provides medical documentation that he is no longer a smoker.

"This is just the latest step in a growing movement to protect the most vulnerable and most defenseless victims of tobacco smoke pollution," public interest lawyer John Banzhaf, Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), commented at the time.

As a matter of fact, says Banzhaf, even years ago, when the dangers of smoking around children were far less well appreciated, ten percent of social workers specializing in adoption turned down potential parents because one or both smoked.

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• Smokers banned by Welsh council from adopting or fostering children 

A COUNCIL has become the first in Wales to impose a blanket ban on smokers adopting or fostering children.

Anti-smoking campaigners last night welcomed the move by Merthyr Tydfil council, but critics have pointed out there are already not enough foster parents in Wales.

They fear the changes might discourage potential carers from coming forward and could jeopardise the future of children already in the care of smokers.

Increasing numbers of local authorities, including Cardiff and Pembrokeshire, have banned smokers from fostering children under five but this is the nation's first blanket no-smoking rule for foster carers and adopters.

Roslyn Rees, head of operational children's services at Merthyr Tydfil council, said: "The health, safety and well-being of children and young people are at the heart of policies and practice related to children.

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North East Wales | Barn destroyed by boy's cigarette 

A 13-year-old boy has been given a nine-month referral order after his discarded cigarette caused a blaze which destroyed a barn.

A youth court at Mold heard the boy went to the barn at Halkyn, Flintshire, to have a cigarette.

He admitted arson on a reckless basis, rather than deliberate.

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Advice on smoking at work 

Advice on smoking at work

Smoking in public places and the workplace is dealt with as a public health matter within Great Britain. The Department of Health takes the lead on this in England, in Wales this is a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government and in Scotland it is the responsibility of the Scottish Executive. The situation is as follows: . . .

In exempted premises, HSE will continue to promote a sensible, proportionate management of second hand smoking to as low a level as is reasonably practicable and to encourage employers to adopt smoking policies in the workplace which give precedence to the wishes of non-smokers not to be exposed to second hand smoking.

Even with new smoke-free legislation, HSE’s advice on protecting employees from the effects of second hand smoke remains unchanged in that:

* Employers should have a specific policy on smoking in the workplace.

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South West Wales | Smoking ban work vehicle warning 

Most people breaking the smoking ban in Swansea are caught lighting up in their work cars or vans.

The city council is reminding taxi and van drivers they are not allowed to smoke in work vehicles.

The authority has issued 26 penalty notices in the last year and said drivers accounted for most of them.

It said the ban, introduced in Wales in April 2007, covered all vehicles used to transport the public or which are used by more than one employee.

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Smoking On Hospital Grounds - Stub It Out Now, Says BMA Cymru Wales 

On the second anniversary of the ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces in Wales, BMA Cymru Wales is calling for it to now be extended to all hospital grounds.

Currently, some Welsh NHS Trusts operate voluntary codes, which are not enforceable by any laws or fines.

Chair of the BMA's Welsh Council, Dr Andrew Dearden says "The BMA in Wales has campaigned for smoking to be banned on all hospital grounds. In fact, we called on the Assembly Government to change the law to ensure hospitals were included in the smoking ban legislation, which came into effect two years ago today.

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• Smoking ban in Wales proves a breath of fresh air 

IS it really two years since the smoking ban was introduced in Wales? Because the majority view seems to be how did we ever put up with the smog-filled pubs and restaurants of the past.

Councils in North Wales have broadly adopted a softly-softly approach to enforcement, preferring persuasion and education to zealous persecution of smokers and landlords.

Conwy council has used the stick rather than carrot most often with 52 fixed penalty fines.

Yet with more than 99% of premises inspected across Wales in January complying with the smoke-free legislation, the people have clearly signed up to the deal which can only benefit public health in the longer term.

The benefits are there: significantly improved air quality in pubs and other venues protecting workers and customers from the risks of second-hand tobacco smoke; more than 12,000 signing up to quit smoking in the last year, while 32% smoke fewer cigarettes because of the ban. . . .

The predicted fall in cases of lung cancer can not come soon enough.

But the evidence from Scotland is encouraging.

There has been a 17% decrease north of the border in hospital admissions for Acute Coronary Syndrome since smoke-free laws were introduced there.

The evidence for Wales will become available soon.

If, as anticipated, this mirrors the trends in Scotland, even the most ardent, libertarian smoker will have to admit that the law is doing its job.

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Chief Medical Officer marks second anniversary of the smoking ban 

As Wales marks the second anniversary of the ban on smoking in enclosed public places, latest figures on compliance are published.

The figures show that smoke-free compliance remains high with more than 99 per cent of premises inspected during January complying with the smoke-free requirements of the legislation. The figures also show that only three fixed penalties were issued in January.

Welsh Assembly Government-commissioned research, conducted by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health in Wales, found that air quality levels in pubs and other hospitality venues has improved significantly since the ban, with particulate levels falling by an average of 77 per cent, helping to protect workers and the public from the risks of second-hand tobacco smoke.

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52 fatal fires in North Wales...26 caused by cigarettes 

MORE than 50 people have died in accidental house fires across North Wales since 2001, the fire service has revealed.

Now fire chiefs have launched a campaign to tackle the prime causes of these blazes and stop the grim toll rising further.

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service's new appeal - Put it out, right out - has been organised to combat the problem of carelessly discarded cigarettes, and to stop people cooking when they're drunk.

In North Wales there have been 52 fatalities in accidental house fires since 2001 - 26 of these started by cigarettes.

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• Consultant in lung cancer calls for a ban on smoking throughout NHS hospitals 

A LEADING consultant has called for a total ban on smoking in all hospital grounds.

Dr Ian Campbell, a chest consultant at Llandough Hospital, said attempts by NHS trusts to prohibit smoking within their grounds need to be enforced by laws to make smoking illegal on any NHS estates.

His comments come after security staff at hospitals in North Wales said they are facing daily verbal threats and abuse from the public when they try to enforce a smoking ban in hospital grounds.

Dr Campbell, a lung cancer expert and former president of the British Thoracic Society, helped to mastermind a no-smoking culture at Llandough Hospital, in Penarth, more than 20 years ago.

Such action, coupled with the appointment of the first smoking cessation counsellor in the UK, virtually rid the hospital and its grounds of smokers.

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Stop smoking and you’ll get fitter all the time 

The pain smokers fell on giving up is a positive sign your body is recovering, says Dr Tony Jewell

LAST week marked the 26th national No Smoking Day. Smoking is the single largest preventable cause of premature death and one of the main determinants of health inequalities in Wales and the UK today.

In this article I want to draw attention to some less well known effects of smoking and give some tips and encourage Welsh smokers to quit.

Children under five who live in a smoking household are often diagnosed with glue ear and respiratory tract infections, which are both unpleasant illnesses and require medical attention.

People who smoke, or who are regularly exposed to the tobacco smoke of others, are more susceptible to respiratory infections and as a result will require a doctor's appointment and antibiotic prescription along with time off work to recover.

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North West Wales | Guards abused by hospital smokers 

Hospital security guards face daily abuse when they ask smokers to leave the site, a health trust says.

North Wales NHS trust said it estimated that 3,000 incidents of verbal abuse happens at its hospitals every year.

Smoking on hospital grounds is against the trust policy, but it is not against the law.

Steve Jones, security manager at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire, said guards had been left upset by some aggressive smokers. . . .

"The usual reply is 'Why?' or 'What are you going to do about it?'" . . .

"It is a shame to see pregnant mothers, and newly born babies, children attending the paediatrics department, patients arriving by ambulance as well as staff and visitors wading through cigarette smoke to access or exit the building. Not forgetting the littering of cigarette butts all over the entrance."

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Assembly Government needs to do more to tackle smoking, experts warn 

Experts will today call on the Assembly Government to do more to prevent the deaths of 500 people a month from smoking-related diseases.

The Welsh Tobacco Control Alliance will also urge families to declare their homes no smoking zones.

The calls from more community-based action to control the sale and use of tobacco comes as the UK marks the 26th national No Smoking Day today.

Tanya Buchanan, director of Ash Wales, said, on behalf of the alliance: "Six thousand people die in Wales each year as a result of smoking - that's an average of 500 people every month.

"It is also estimated that on average smokers die about 10 years younger than non-smokers.

"Wales, unlike England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, does not currently have any government-endorsed strategy for dealing with tobacco use.

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Help for people who want to stop smoking 

SMOKING is the number one cause of avoidable premature death, linked to a range of serious and often fatal conditions.

It kills almost 6,000 people in Wales every year.

The sooner you stop smoking, the sooner the risk of developing lung cancer, other cancers, heart attack, stroke and chronic lung disease starts going down.

The good news is that if you want to stop smoking there's help at hand from a wide range of places, including local stop smoking services, through your doctor and local pharmacies.

No Smoking Day on Wednesday is the UK's leading health campaign for smokers who want to stop. . . .

The smoking cessation services available at your local pharmacy may vary slightly but all provide advice on how to keep healthy and what steps you can take to quit for good.

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Welsh smoking cessation initiative rolled out 

An initiative in which nurses help patients quit smoking before surgery is being rolled out across Wales.

Launched by Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University NHS Trust, the programme trains outpatient and vascular nurses how to offer advice to smokers, and how to refer them to a specialist behavioural support programme run by Stop Smoking Wales.

Research has shown that smoking can increase the risk of breathing problems, infections and delay wound healing following surgery.

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