Back in 2003 New York banned smoking in restaurants, bars and clubs which then seemed to start a global trend to be followed by England in 2007.
The main concern seems to be that some studies have shown sitting just three feet away from someone smoking outdoors can expose you to passive smoking risks.
It isn’t only smokers who will suffer if this new outdoor smoking ban takes off; tobacco companies and the UK Smoking Lobby will be nervous that this could be the start of a new trend. In 2007 smoking was recorded as being at its lowest ever level in the UK with just 21% of the population being smokers.
There are arguments supporting the ban in some outdoor places, for instance parks which contain children’s play areas , but with the Smoking Ban already forcing smokers to retreat outdoors from bars and pubs will an outdoor ban have even more of a negative impact on the licensed trade?
If the ban was to encompass public pavements and car parks then what effect would this have on the leisure trade, whose smoking clientele are already forced to stand outside their premises in order to have a cigarette?
The licensed trade has been hit by a plethora of new laws and regulations over the last few years, some of which have been considered detrimental to the industry with a substantial number of licensed premises going out of business, and a large number of public houses and bars showing a significant downturn in profits.
To keep the licensed trade going it is important that they are able to attract people to their premises and retain them over the course of an evening, but with cheap alcohol available in supermarkets and smoking banned a higher number of people are deciding to have a night in instead. If an outdoor smoking ban was implemented in England then there is the strong possibility that it would exacerbate an already precarious situation.
Anthony Horne is the director of Manchester law firm Licensing Legal – www.licensinglegal.co.uk
