
Across England and the United Kingdom, smoking will be banned outside of some outdoor regions like schools and hospitals to not only protect children and vulnerable people but to help curb the deadly habit among its population.
“We welcome the government taking overarching powers to limit exposure to secondhand smoke outdoors and that they intend to move quickly in areas with the most consensus,” says Caroline Cerny, the deputy chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health. “This is the start of an important ‘national debate’ which should be shaped out in the open by health evidence and public opinion. We will continue to push for ambitious legislation that will protect as many people as possible.”
The tobacco and vapes bill extends the existing ban on smoking indoors to specific outdoor settings such as playgrounds, schools, and hospitals. It also bans the advertising of vapes and sponsorship by vaping companies while restricting the flavours, packaging, and marketing of vapes as they are used to lure under-18s into consuming them. The UK wants to become the world’s first country to eradicate smoking by raising the age at which people can buy cigarettes by one year every year until no one can legally do so.