Hundreds of smokers fined in wake of ban
MORE than 200 fines have been handed out for breaches of the smoking ban in its first six months, new figures revealed yesterday.
NHS statistics also showed more than 25,000 people have phoned the official telephone service Smokeline to help smokers quit the habit. Health officials welcomed the figures as proof that not only was the legislation working, but it was leading to a health improvement as people stopped smoking.
But publicans warned that the licensed trade will continue to suffer from the ban, especially as the winter sets in and smokers cannot comfortably sit outside.
Campaigners also claimed more people were taking drink home and smoking in front of their children since the ban was introduced.
The Scottish Executive brought in the first smoking ban in the UK on 26 March this year. England, Wales and Northern Ireland are now expected to follow.
To date, local authorities have issued 211 fixed-penalty notices around the country to pubs or people found flouting the law.
The Scottish Executive said it was up to local authorities to implement the law, but welcomed the advent of smoke-free public places.
Andy Kerr, the health minister, is expected to talk to some of the people who have benefited from the ban at a reception at Bute House today.
The NHS telephone service Smokeline received 25,231 calls from smokers or their friends and families wanting help to give up the habit.
Maureen Moore, chief executive of ASH Scotland, is one of a number of signatories to a letter published in The Scotsman today, congratulating Scotland on the success of the ban and thanking landlords for enabling it to happen.
She said: "Smoke-free public places are helping to protect everyone in Scotland from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke. The smoking ban is also helping to encourage many smokers to try and beat their habit.
"The smoking ban has been a great success and I think everyone in Scotland should be proud of helping to make it work. This has been the public health triumph of a generation."
Researchers from Cancer Research UK showed the majority of bar staff welcomed the ban.
But Colin Wilkinson, the secretary of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, said trade had already fallen 10 per cent since the ban came in and predicted the situation would get worse.
"We are already seeing people sitting at home and drinking - with all the associated problems that brings," he said.
Neil Rafferty, a spokesman for the smokers' campaign group Forest, said a partial ban would have been fairer to smokers and better for business.
He said: "As we move into autumn and winter, it is going to be very difficult for smokers to stay outside, and so they are going to go home with a carry-out and there is a danger they are going to smoke in front of the kids.
"All this could have been avoided if we had had a sensible policy on smoking that recognised people's rights not to be bothered by cigarette smoke, but also other people's right to choose. A partial ban was very popular with everyone."
Mr Rafferty said a recent row over Mel Smith wanting to smoke a cigar on the Edinburgh Fringe stage while playing Winston Churchill, and the crack- down on van drivers who smoke alone in the cab, made a mockery of the legislation.
Paying the penalty
Since the ban came in on 26 March, 211 fixed-penalty notices have been issued. Renfrewshire issued 60 and there were 43 in East Ayrshire, 23 in Dundee, 22 in Fife and 14 in Glasgow and Inverclyde. Angus issued eight, North Lanarkshire seven, West Dunbartonshire six, Falkirk five, Edinburgh four, and South Lanarkshire three. There was one in East Renfrewshire and also one in Shetland.
