Introduction
From 1 July 2007, all workplace in England ban smoking, which follows the similar legislation in Scotland on 26 March 2007, Wales on 2 April 2007 and Northern Ireland on 30 April 2007.( Forest, 2006) The arguments for smoking ban have been set up for many years. Some people support the ban for medical and healthy reasons, while other said that smoking is an individual’s choice. Since the total smoking ban has been set up, there are a lot of arguments on whether it’s appropriate or not for the government to ban smoking in public places such as pubs, restaurants, cafes and bars. In order to get the public attitudes about the government’s behavior of smoking ban, a questionnaire had been asked by 20 people.
The paper includes the reviews from the internet and the data analysis from the questionnaire.
Research aim and methods
This paper focuses on the public’s attitudes about the smoking ban and what does the public think about the government’s behavior. The questionnaire is designed to know the public’s attitudes. (See Appendix) There are 8 questions here. It contains what is the attitude about the smoking ban; the reason why one is for or against the ban; is it appropriate for the government to control an individual’s rights; what kinds of individual’s rights does the government have right to control. 20 people, who live in London, answered the questionnaire. It contains 12 males and 8 females. 10 of them are smokers and others are nonsmokers.
Discussion
The people who are against the smoking ban said that people should have freedom of choice to smoke or not. The smokers’ lobby group, Forest, pointed to a BBC poll which showed that 64% or people thought that smoking should be a personal matter. (BBC, 2007) The government shouldn’t enact a law to control an individual’s right of smoking. “What they want is restriction not a ban.”(BBC, 2007) It is thought that government should educate people to be far away from smoking but let them make their decisions. (BBC, 2007) What’s more, smoking ban damages business. The treasury earned ￡8,000 million in revenue from tobacco duties for financial (2005-2006 excluding VAT)( ASH. Fact at a glance, 2007). With the smoking ban, not only would the tax from tobacco company decreases, but also bars, restaurants and casinos would fall in takings. They also claimed that self regulation was the solution. Left to market forces, pubs, bars and restaurants would introduce smoke-free areas and better ventilation tailored to customers’ needs, said Forest in a statement on the issue.( Forest, 2006)
However, despite the oppose voice, most people are for the ban. Firstly, passive smoking is dangerous for nonsmoker. They have right to protect themselves from smoke inhalation. (BBC, 2007) Without the smoking ban, some of them had to work in the smoke environment. Second-hand smoking in the workplace caused about 700 deaths each year, according to research from Imperial College.(BBC, 2007) Secondly, smoking is bad for health. One cigarette contains more than 4,000 chemical substances, most of which are poisonous. (Quitsmokingsupport, 2007) Smoking is considered inducing same kinds of cancer such as lung cancer and laryngeal cancer. It is said that each year in Britain, about 120,000 people were killed for the diseases caused by smoking. (Smoking kills, 1998) Thirdly, a smoking ban would encourage more smokers to quit and save the money. “The ‘Voluntary approach’ has failed. It only had limit success”. (BBC, 2007) And NHS spent ￡1.5 billion a year to treating diseases caused by smoking.(ASH. Fact at a glance, 2007) A poll by Mintel in May 2004 found that 15 percent of the smokers said they would quit smoking after the ban was introduced. (BBC, 2007)
Results
According to the data from the questionnaire, it can be seen that:
60% of the nonsmokers are for the ban (Figure 1), and the rest of them are with the neutral state. What’s more, half of the smokers are also for the ban, while 30% of them are against the ban.
When asked the reason why they are for the ban, most people, more than 1/3, agree that people have a right to protect themselves from smoke inhalation. (Figure 2) The follow reason is about health. They thought that smoking is dangerous to one’s health. The rest of people hold the view that the “Voluntary approach” has failed and a smoking ban would encourage more smokers to quit. The reasons why they are against the smoking ban are no more than individual’s rights and economic reasons. (Figure 3)
However, more than 60% of people thought that it was appropriate for the government to control individual’s right to ban smoking. (Figure 4) Most of them said that it was necessary to enact a law to ban smoking because the “Voluntary approach” had failed.
On the other hand, people who against the ban suggest that the government should educate the people to far away smoking and let them make the choice. However, when mentioned general affairs, nearly 90% of people believed that the government has the right to control an individual’s choice if it benefits most of people. (Figure 5) Nearly all of the questioned people supported the government to control the bad habits or behaviors which both threaten publics and individual’s health or security and the individual’s right which encroach other’s right. But only few of them considered that the government has the right to control anything if they think it is necessary.
Conclusion
It is surprised that half of the smokers are also for the ban. I think it means that most of the smokers know that smoking is bad for their health. But they didn’t quit smoking because others around their sides were still smoking. They didn’t have a “smoke free” environment. After the smoking ban was introduced, they would be glad to drop their cigarettes.
“Health” is the first reason for people who for the smoking ban. It is believed that people know the danger of smoking clearly. Smoking is not only bad for smokers themselves but also bad for passive nonsmokers. Though the ban would damage the business, most of people thought health threat is more important than business damage.
From the date above, most people consider the government’s behavior is appropriate. Protecting an individual’s right mustn’t threaten other’s rights. Individual’s right is fair. We must make a best balance among different people’s rights. If they can’t solve the problem, government should make sure other’s right be protected.
References
1 Forest, Dec 2006, Smoking in public places, http://www.forestonline.org/output/Page17.asp (accessed October 31 2007)
2 BBC Action Network team, 01 May 2007, Smoking bans: an Action Network briefing, http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/actionnetwork/A2702143, (accessed Oct 31 2007)
3 ASH. Fact at a glance, Tobacco economics, 2007, http://newash.org.uk/files/documents/ASH_95.pdf (accessed Oct 31 2007)
4 Quitsmokingsupport, 2007, http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/whatsinit.htm (accessed Oct 31 2007)
5 Smoking kills, 1998, http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/cm41/4177/chap-01.htm (accessed Oct 31 2007)
Appendix
Questionnaire
Smoking Ban in UK
For our course at Brunel International, we are conducting a survey on that ‘is it appropriate for the government to control an individual’ right to smoke in public place’. The questionnaire should take less than 5 min to complete. Your answer is important for the survey. Thank you for your help.
1/ In the statement below, which one is your state?
A A smoker for the smoking ban ( )
B A smoker against the smoking ban ( )
C A smoker with the state of being neutral ( )
D A nonsmoker for the smoking ban ( )
E A nonsmoker against the smoking ban ( )
F A nonsmoker with the state of being neutral ( )
2/ Do your think it is appropriate for the government to control individual’s right to ban smoking?
A Yes ( ) B No ( )
3/ If you are for the ban, which one do you think is the main reason?
A Smoking is dangerous to one’s health ( )
B A ban would encourage more smokers to quit ( )
C The "voluntary approach" has failed ( )
D People have a right to protect themselves from smoke inhalation ( )
E Other reasons ( )
4/ If you are against the ban, which one do you think is the main reason?
A People want restrictions not a ban ( )
B People should have freedom of choice ( )
C Smoking bans damage business ( )
D The link between passive smoking and ill health is unproven ( )
E Other reasons ( )
5/ In which way do you think is the appropriate for the government to do for public smoking?
A The government should educate the people to far away smoking. But Let them make a choice ( )
B The ‘ Voluntary approach’ has failed. It is necessary to enact a law to ban smoking. ( )
C Either is OK. ( )
6/ Do you think the government has the right to control an individual’s choice?
A Yes, if it benefits most of people. ( )
B No. It doesn’t have right to do so. ( )
C other ( )
7/ What do you think about the punishment for violating the ban?
A It is too much ( )
B It is not enough ( )
C It is appropriate ( )
D Other ( )
8/ In your opinion, which one (or ones) does the government have right to control?
A The bad habits or behavior which threaten individual’s health or security ( )
B The bad habits or behavior which both threaten public’s and individual’s health or security ( )
C The individual’s right which encroach other’s right ( )
D Anything if the government think that it is necessary ( )
E Others
Thank you very much!!
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