Public Smoking Ban: Champion of Health or Gateway to New Restrictions?

In August 2024 the government starting talking about plans to ban smoking in public areas such as pubs, hospitals, small parks, schools, sports venues and nightclubs however the hospitality industry expressed major concerns at this ban, stating this would be “a final nail in the coffin”. Michael Kill, CEO of the Night Time Industries Association, said: "At a time when our industry desperately needs the freedom to trade, the last thing we need is further barriers." He also added: "We must question whether such an approach is truly in the public interest, or whether it risks over-regulation at the cost of personal freedom and business viability."

Sir Kier Starmer stated that “80,000 people lose their lives every year to smoking”. According to Action on Smoking and health, smoking costs the NHS approximately £2.4 billion per year, and £3 billion in lost productivity to the economy and smoking breaks cost businesses £5 billion (UK Parliament)

So, do we think that a smoking ban in public areas is a good idea? According to ASH, when the ban was introduced in pubs and hospitality venues in 2007 there was a 2.4% reduction in hospital admissions for heart attacks and a 12.3% reduction in hospital admissions for childhood asthma, so there is a strong argument for smoking reduction to happen.

Andrew Burney from ABC Hypnotherapy comments “smoking costs the economy and the NHS significant amounts and it is really concerning that there is a huge rise in young people now taking up vaping. I am in favour of the proposed smoking ban as it helps stops the next generation taking up the habit. I also think there should be stricter rules on the distribution of vapes to make them less accessible to the younger generation.” Burney continues: “I work with a lot of clients help them to stop smoking and vaping using hypnotherapy as it is an extremely effective way to quit the habit for good”.

Hypnotherapy is often overlooked by many when wanting to stop smoking. Many people will spend money on nicotine patches or will switch to vaping, whereas two to three sessions of hypnotherapy will help you quit for good and save you a lot of money.

Of course, there are lots of ways you can quit smoking and your local NHS stop smoking service is excellent, however if you don’t want to go down the nicotine replacement route, you might want to try hypnotherapy as a drug free, very effective alternative