Do bans contribute to people quit?
The smoking debate is a pitfall of lobbyists. In the one corner you have the government, doctors and a whole crowd of anti-smoking groups. In the other you observe the industry and Forest, the group defending the rights of smokers. They argue about the benefits of smoking bans.
Peter Terry, a representative of the British Medical Association in Scotland, considers that there’s now good evidence that confirms the health benefits of smoking bans. He means a study by Dundee University which demonstrated that bartenders’ lung function improved just within two months after smoking was banned from pubs in Scotland. But it is doubtful that bans really encourage people to cut down or give up.
Neil Raffety, his opponent at Forest in Scotland objects to speaking that smoking bans don’t effect whether people smoke. Smokers can adapt.
The most serious evidence of the impulse of the bans in Scotland and Ireland are cigarette sales, which demonstrate some success. Imperial Tobacco, which possesses the largest share of the tobacco market in the UK, stated an 8% drop in sales in Scotland as a result of the ban in 2004. However the industry says this happens partly because of the long-term drop in smoking.
There may also happen unexpected outcomes though. One study from University College London cleared out that as people change their smoking habit –as well as their drinking habits - they are more likely to smoke at home around their children.
But still, people in Scotland begin to look at smokers differently in the street.
