Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said that the government is considering banning smoking outdoors in order to reduce the number of preventable deaths caused by tobacco use. Confirming that smoking could be banned in front of pubs in particular, Starmer said that their aim was to reduce the burden on the NHS.
So what does it mean to prevent smoking outdoors? Let’s say that the gardens in front of pubs would be considered as pub interiors and smokers would not be able to smoke in these areas either. They would buy their beer or wine and then go to an empty lot and smoke. In other words, there is no pleasure in smoking in front of pubs, there never will be.
So how much of a burden do smokers pose to the NHS? There is no official statement on this yet. So could a ban on smoking outdoors reduce the number of smokers? There is no information on this yet either.
The government may soon make the following statement: Cigarette smoke causes great damage to the ozone layer. There is great benefit in banning cigarette smoke for the future of the world.