NSW Smoking Ban Smokers Like It

YESTERDAY’S introduction of strict outdoor smoking bans in NSW drew few objections on the Border; even smokers believe the tougher laws are a good idea.

It is now illegal to smoke in many outdoor public areas, including train stations, bus stops and sporting facilities.

Those who ignore the bans risk a $550 fine.

A smoker for more than 15 years, Duncan Cooper, of Albury was concerned about the harm passive smoke could do to children.

“I get passive smoke from my own cigarette when I’m not smoking it,” he said.
“For people’s health it will be a good thing.”

But he didn’t agree with the amount of the fine.

“Who has that amount of money these days?” he said.

Shane Vale said smoking away from people was common courtesy, NSW now made it law.
“It’s fair enough,” he said.

“I can understand that non-smokers don’t like to smell cigarette smoke, especially with kids around, but it’s not an illegal product ... it is a bit frustrating.”

The new laws are designed to protect people, particularly children, from passive smoke.
Eight-year-old Lily Ryan-McCormack is glad.

“Sometimes the smoke makes me have a bit of a headache,” she said.

“I smell it, and it smells really gross.”

The Asthma Foundation NSW yesterday applauded the NSW government’s decision, which will also see smoking banned from outdoor areas at venues where food is consumed from 2015.

“According to the most recent NSW government statistics, smoking-related illness accounts for about 5200 deaths and 44,000 hospitalisations per year in NSW and costs about $8 billion annually,”
Asthma Foundation NSW chief executive Michele Goldman said.

“Tobacco smoke is a key trigger for a potentially fatal asthma attack and is associated with higher rates of asthma.

“Children who live in homes where parents smoke are three times more likely to have asthma than children living in non-smoking homes.”

Smoking, Did you know?

Did you know?

·         Cigarette smoke contains up to 4, 000 chemicals.

·         Cigarette butts take, on average, 1.5 years to break down.   

·         Almost 50% of all litter in urban areas is tobacco related products including butts, cellophane wrapping, foil inserts and packaging.

·         An estimated 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are littered worldwide every year.

  

·         About 24 billion cigarettes are sold in Australia each year.  It is estimated that 7 billion of these cigarettes are littered.

·         An estimated 100 000 tonnes of polluted air is exhaled by smokers in NSW each year.

·         In some parts of Australia, if caught littering cigarette buttsyou can receive a fine of up to $2,000 if the matter goes to court.

·         Cigarettes accounted for 17% of the total rubbish items collected on 2004 Clean Up Australia Day.

·         A cigarette butt can smoulder for up to three hours causing a grass fire or even a bushfire.

·         Over 4,500 fires a year are caused by cigarettes and smokers’ materials.

(Source: Clean Up Australia)

Metro Hotel Sydney Central To Butt Out Smoking - Metro Hotels

The 3 1/2 star Metro Hotel Sydney Central is set to make a fresh start to the new financial year by becoming a 100% smoke-free hotel.

"The move has come about following increased demand for more non-smoking rooms from a wide cross section of our clients," said Hotel General Manager, Ms. Sandra Calabretta.
And the timing for the changes couldn’t be better. “We are currently undergoing a refurbishment of the rooms and common areas of the hotel so it makes very good sense to make the switch now,” explains Ms Calabretta.

Since 2006 seventy per cent of the hotel plus the common areas have been smoke free. The hotel still had demand from some guests, mainly the Asian inbound groups, for smoking rooms so a number of floors were set aside to cater for this market.

“Over time we have seen a large decline in the need for smoking rooms from traditional markets so now it is a case of catering for the majority and not the minority,” said Ms. Calabretta.

In 2005, the Metro Apartments on Darling Harbour, also located in Sydney's CBD, was the first Metro property to adopt a smoke-free policy with no negative effect on the busines.

Metro Hotel Sydney Central To Butt Out Smoking - Metro Hotels

Outdoor Dining Smoking Ban for NSW

ANTI-tobacco laws just got tougher in NSW with bans to be put in place at playgrounds, public transport stops, entrances to public buildings and sports grounds, with outdoor dining to follow.

Health Minister Jillian Skinner announced today that while the public smoking bans will be put in place as soon as they pass through parliament, possibly within a couple of months, the commercial outdoor dining areas will not be introduced until 2015.

Currently some council areas have some of these smoking bans in place but the new tobacco reforms - as part of NSW Tobacco Strategy 2012-17 - will now be uniform across the state.

"The aim of this is to reduce the number of people who are smoking and to reduce the exposure to people, particularly children and families of third-party tobacco smoke," Ms Skinner said.

The NSW Heart Foundation backed the reforms.

"This is an historic moment in our State's history and one that will help to protect the thousands of people in NSW who don't smoke," NSW Heart Foundation CEO Tony Thirlwell said.

"There is no safe level of exposure to second hand smoke evidence shows that a non-smokers exposure to second-hand smoke can result in up to a 30 percent increase in risk of heart disease," he said.

Outdoor Dining Smoking Ban for NSW

Victoria Prepared to Ban Outdoor Smoking

Victoria's health department is said to be pushing for a total smoking ban in outdoor areas throughout the state.

The calls have reportedly been made in a report to Health Minister David Davies.

Several metropolitan councils have already introduced bans at playgrounds and sports centres.

The plan has drawn opposition from business owners and smokers alike, who say it is still legal to light up and every person should have a choice.

The move follows Queensland's state-wide smoking ban in outdoor areas, in July 2006.

Sydney Goes Smoke Free

SYDNEY has emulated universities on the other side of the country by declaring itself smoke-free.

The policy came into effect at the end of January after being approved by the University of Sydney Senate in December.

Human resources director Colin Streeter said the policy matched moves by other universities. “The dangers associated with smoking and passive smoking have long been recognised, and we have an obligation under state legislation to provide a smoke-free environment,” he said.

The universities of Western Australia, Curtin and Edith Cowan instituted similar policies on January 1, and Murdoch has promised to follow suit next year. The University of Adelaide phased in a total smoking ban over the last two years, and Macquarie will this year review plans for a total smoking ban from 2015.

But Sydney has eschewed the total ban approach of the WA universities, designating 19 small external areas for smoking across its seven campuses.

In this respect it has followed the example of James Cook University’s Cairns campus, which banned smoking from all but four external designated areas.

Sydney has established a quit smoking program and offered counselling via its employee assistance program.

The university union was consulted over the new policy, and pre-empted it by banning tobacco sales from its outlets last October. President Sibella Matthews said the union was committed to a “healthy campus environment”.

The new policy also meets union concerns by allowing organisers to apply for temporary smoking areas at enclosed events, such as ticketed performances at the popular Hermann’s and Manning bars.

However with the university and union in dispute over whether the union will continue to run Manning, it’s yet to be seen who will benefit from this concession.

University polls reportedly revealed 83 per cent support for smoking exclusion zones, with 78 per cent or respondents supporting a complete ban on campus.

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Health Experts Fume Over Perth Airport’s New Smoking Rooms

Perth has decided to allow smoking at the airport – not in the main concourse but in specially designated smoking rooms.

The West Australian reports that a purpose-built smokers’ area is being built at the southern end of the domestic terminal. It will open next month, with a second facility to follow in the international terminal.

Smoking rooms – usually unadorned and grim-looking places with extractor fans working overtime to suck out as much smoke as possible – are a feature of many airports in Asia and Europe. Even Singapore Changi has one, though Singapore’s official policy is firmly anti-smoking.

Those airports accept that if smokers cannot smoke in flight, they may want to do so on arrival. Airports don’t want smokers sneaking illicit puffs in toilets.

In Australia, the Airports Act 1996 prohibits smoking in any part of an airport in which there is a sign bearing the words ‘No-Smoking’. While designated smoking rooms are permissible, they have been removed from, or not installed at, Australian airports. As a result, desperate smokers rush outside and light up outside terminals, creating clouds of passive smoke that plagues non-smokers and risks the health of children.

Australian Council on Smoking and Health president Mike Daube labelled the prospect of a purpose-built smoking room at Perth Airport “a shocking step backwards”.

The airport should just have banned smoking outright, he said.

Western Australia, famed for its healthy lifestyle, has one of the lowest rates of smoking in Australia.

“We can now confidently predict that smoking will decline from 16.6% nationally (14.8% in WA) to below 10% within a few years, and will then go into freefall,” Daube said last year.

Cigarettes kill one in two regular users, he added.

Written by : Peter Needham

(Source: eglobaltravelmedia.com.au)