MPs have voted in favour of a total smoking ban in public places – fantastic! I’m so glad they didn’t bow to pressure to make it OK for pubs that don’t serve food to avoid the ruling – that would’ve just meant that posh pubs protected people’s health and pubs in poorer areas left them all to choke to death.
The one group that will suffer from this, sadly, are people with mental illness, whose medication is set based on the fact that they smoke, and need to smoke for the delicate balance of their mental wellbeing. There are already a lot of people who can’t travel on public transport because the need to smoke more frequently, and they are people for whom giving up smoking is a way more difficult proposition that it is for the rest of the population. I’m not sure what needs to happen for them, but I hope due consideration is given.
But for the majority of people, this will be a huge step forward. I might even start going to pubs again. It’ll certainly make going to gigs in venues that currently allow smoking much more enjoyable – no more coming home from the Borderline smelling like Guy Fawkes.
And for those of you that smoke, you’ve got until next summer to give up, then you can be grateful like the rest of us. Hey, if the Shark can quit, anyone can.
Hurrah!