SMOKING IN PUBLIC PLACES

By The College
Contact the author by e-mail at christopher.johnstone@ntlworld.com

Following a request from the Scottish Parliament’s Health Committee, RCGP Scotland has submitted written evidence on the Prohibition of Smoking in Regulated Areas (Scotland) Bill, which was introduced by Mr Stuart Maxwell MSP as a members’ bill. In its response, RCGP Scotland offers support for the legislation in Scotland, which seeks to regulate smoking in areas where food is being served. The College’s long term objective, however, is a total ban on smoking in all public areas, which was reinforced at a national level in November 2003 in a letter to the Times on behalf of all the medical faculties and royal Colleges, which called for a UK-wide ban.

The Scottish Executive Health Department will be issuing a consultation this summer to ask the publics’ view on smoking in public places and to gauge support for a ban. The Chief Medical Officer, Dr Mac Armstrong, made a plea in a meeting earlier this year with the College and representatives from the Scottish General Practitioners Committee for GPs across Scotland to respond to the consultation as professionals, but also to encourage their patients to feed in their thoughts as well. Pressure is already mounting for the Scottish Executive to emulate Ireland’s ban, and the more responses the Executive receive in favour of a ban, the harder it will be to ignore.

The consultation materials, and response forms, are now available at: www.smokingconsultation.com. Members of the public can also obtain a consultation information pack and response form by calling 0800 027 7127.

Progress of the Prohibition of Smoking in Regulated Areas (Scotland) Bill can be viewed via the Scottish Parliament web site at: www.scottish.parliament.uk/health.

A copy of the RCGP Scotland response to the Health Committee can be downloaded from our web site at:
www.rcgp-scotland.org.uk.

hoolet is the magazine of RCGP Scotland. It is supported intellectually, financially and emotionally by RCGP Scotland.

This issue maintained by Robert Hallam.