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Earlier this year, on July 1st 2007, to be precise, the new law came into effect in England making virtually all enclosed public places and workplaces smokefree. In enacting this legislation, England has followed the trend of Scotland, Ireland, and a number of other countries.

In the run up to the new legislation coming into force, a number of smokers of my acquaintance in England were declaring that this was goodbye to life as they knew it, the end of the world, and so on. But are all smokers upset by the ban? The truth is that a large proportion of smokers are in fact trying to give up, and the new ban is helping them do it. Smoking is not nearly so enjoyable when you have to excuse yourself and go outside to do it, and a lot of smokers are now finding, as they expected, that the temptation to smoke has become less.

Thankfully, since July 1st my dyed-in-the-wool smoker friends now seem to accept that they have to go outside to smoke their cigarettes if they are in a pub, a club, or other public area.

As for us non-smokers and ex-smokers, it is now wonderful to be able to go out to a pub and not be assaulted by a great waft of awful cigarette smoke. Far from discouraging people to go out to pubs, the smoking ban may actually encourage people to go out again – people who were previously avoiding pubs because they couldn’t stand the smoke. Prior to the ban, a cafe in my home town introduced its own ban, and actually found that they got more customers.

England and other countries have chosen the right direction in banning smoking in public places – the ban supports people wanting to quit, and protects those who would rather not breathe cigarette smoke.

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