The government has announced plans to make it illegal to smoke outside schools and in children’s playgrounds in England. They also want to ban smoking outside of hospitals and have said that some outdoor places could become vape-free.
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill would also make it impossible for anyone currently aged 15 or under to buy cigarettes – something voted for by MP’s under the previous government. It aims to make the UK the first country in the world 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.
Prof Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, who is thought to have argued for the widest possible outdoor smoking ban, said the UK finally becoming “smoke-free” would lead to fewer stillbirths and cases of asthma in children, as well as reductions in cancer, strokes, heart disease and dementia