Sweden, 12/17/03... Sweden's Health Minister, Morgan Johansson,
announced today that Sweden will implement smokefree workplace regulations,
including restaurants and bars, on July 1, 2005. The plan has the
backing of Sweden's ruling Social Democrats, the Green Party, and
the Left Party.
"Smokefree workplace laws are happening for a good reason,"
says Joe Cherner, founder of BREATHE-- Bar and Restaurant Employees
Advocating Together for a Healthy Environment. "Tobacco smoke
causes cancer, respiratory illness, and heart disease. No one should
have to breathe it to hold a job."
Sweden will join Ireland, Norway, New Zealand, and Bhutan as the
world's first smokefree workplace countries.
London, 11/24/03 - Leading British doctors today launched an unprecedented
attack on the British Government's weak stance against tobacco smoke
pollution. Labeling the government's policy of voluntary regulation
"useless," the doctors called for an immediate smokefree
workplace law to protect ALL British workers.
In a letter to The Times newspaper, 18 signatories, headed by the
president of the Royal College of Physicians, criticized the current
system of self regulation. They wrote: "We believe that the time
has come for legislation to make all public places smoke-free."
"In the hospitality industry, smoke exposure is very high and
poses a particular risk," the letter said. "The current
system of self regulation has failed to protect the majority of staff
or customers." "All [workers] have a right to freedom from
tobacco smoke pollution."
The doctors announced the publication of a study entitled "Tobacco
Smoke Pollution: The Hard Facts." The study estimated that 1,000
British adults die every year from diseases caused by tobacco smoke
pollution.
"The great majority of people in the U.K. -- 80 percent -- do
not smoke," wrote Carol Black, president of the Royal College
of Physicians. "Most find cigarette smoke unpleasant and irritating"
and a majority of the British public would prefer public places to
be smokefree.
All 13 Royal Colleges of Medicine warned that employers had a duty
to protect staff from harm and that smokefree workplace legislation
could save 150,000 lives in the long term.
The letter finished: "As doctors seeing the daily consequences
of smoking and passive smoking, we agree and call on the Government
to introduce legislation at the earliest possible opportunity."
According to The Times, it is believed to be the first time that
all Royal Colleges have made such an issue a common cause.
Britian's Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson (equivalent to
the U.S. Surgeon General) had previously called for smokefree workplace
legislation, including smokefree bars, clubs and restaurants, but
his recommendation ran into opposition from the very government that
appointed him.
The Royal Colleges report was welcomed by all smokefree advocacy
groups including Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), which repeated
calls for a New York City-style smokefree workplace law. "Legislation
to end employees' involuntary exposure to secondhand smoke at work
is long overdue," said ASH Director Deborah Arnott.
Smokefree establishments are still rare in Britain compared to
the United States. Pizza Hut implemented one of the country's first
smokefree policies in August this year, saying the decision was
being taken to protect both customers and staff from the dangers
of tobacco smoke.
Irish who blow smoke with their beer got a last-call warning --
Jan. 25 is the final day they can legally smoke in a pub. Health
Minister Micheal Martin signed into law smokefree workplace legislation
for all workplaces -- including Ireland's more than 10,000 pubs.
Ireland's smokefree workplace law specifies that smoking will be
prohibited in any enclosed workplace, including pubs and clubs,
trains, airplanes, buses and taxis. "The primary purpose in
introducing this important new health measure is to allow people
to work and socialize in clean, healthy, smoke-free environments,"
Martin said in a statement.
Pub owners in nine of the Republic of Ireland's 26 counties have
passed motions criticizing the effort to outlaw smoking, and some
have vowed to risk heavy fines by ignoring the law.
Although the world tends to think of the United States as the leader
in smokefree workplace legislation, countries such as Ireland, Canada,
Australia, and Norway have done more.