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ASH Daily News for 27 November 2006

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ASH Daily News
 
27 November 2006
 
HEADLINES
 
Smoking by neighbours
 
Patients won’t be treated by health workers if they continue to smoke
 
Pubs in Fife to stage a closed door protest over smoking ban
 
Queen of Denmark will stop smoking in public
 
FULL TEXT
 
Smoking by neighbours
 
The Monterey Herald, California, examines the issue of people being exposed to cigarette smoke via their neighbours.
 
‘Don Williams was often awakened by the odour of his downstairs neighbour's cigarette smoke. “It was just ghastly,” Williams recalled. “Her computer was below my bed, and she'd be there smoking. Her smoke would invariably end up in my apartment.”
 
Williams endured the secondhand smoke for years. But after his neighbour moved, he and the other owners of the 12-unit complex in New Jersey amended the condo's bylaws to ban smoking.
 
This case reflects the growing debate over secondhand smoke in apartments and condos. The issue is getting attention after a new state law that bans smoking in most public places.
 
Smoking bans have been put into effect in dozens of buildings across the US. A large Virginia-based landlord, First Centrum Communities, recently decided not to rent to smokers. But such actions are still relatively rare. In most buildings, less radical solutions are tried when a nonsmoking resident complains.
 
“It's not always an easy thing to resolve,” said Suzanne Alstrom of Impac Property Management in Fort Lee, N.J., which manages three multiunit buildings.
 
Nonsmokers bothered by their neighbours' fumes generally start diplomatically, by appealing to the smokers' neighbourly instincts. Often, smokers will agree to keep their windows open, even in winter, said Doreen Ercolano, rental manager at the 1,300-unit Brookchester Apartments in New Milford, N.J.
 
In addition, the residents or the landlord can try to plug up the leaks and cracks that allow secondhand smoke to seep into neighbours' apartments, by sealing and caulking around pipes, radiators, and the place where the wall meets the floor.
 
Williams tried all these things to block out his neighbour's smoke.  “I did everything but I don't think it made any difference.” For him, the ban was the only answer.
 
But landlords, condo associations and building managers are often hesitant to get tough on smokers. “This is their home,” Alstrom said. “I don't think you could tell people how to live within their apartment.”
 
Anti-smoking activists, however, say landlords and condo or co-op associations are well within their rights to ban smoking throughout a building. They also say there is plenty of precedent for banning smoking in homes as they argue it's no different from asking people to keep quiet at night.
 
John Banzhaf, executive director of ASH in the US, said condo and apartment dwellers began asking for smokefree homes about a decade ago. While some condo boards and landlords have decided to go smokefree voluntarily, in other buildings residents have gone to court.
 
He said more and more nonsmokers are asking: “If I don't have to put up with secondhand smoke on an airplane, in my office or in a public building, why should I put up with it at home?”
 
Source: Monterey Herald 25 November 2006
Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/yad466
 
 
Patients won’t be treated by health workers if they continue to smoke
 
United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust has outlined its latest stance against smoking which will allow health workers to refuse to give treatment if a patient, carer or even a friend, refuses to stop smoking when a healthcare worker is present.
 
The trust will also support any staff member who leaves a home because passive smoking has made them fear for their personal safety - as long as the patient is not in immediate danger.
 
The move is part of the trust's new Smoke Free policy, which also bans workers from smoking on trust grounds and in vehicles.  The new rules come into force on December 1.
 
Neil Rafferty of FOREST said the trust's policy was the most extreme it had encountered. He said: “This is blackmail. When these patients paid their taxes, and their National Insurance, there was no condition attached. They deserve treatment regardless of their lifestyle.”
 
Source: This is Lincolnshire 24 November 2006
Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/yfhnuz
 
 
How licensees are preparing for the English smoking ban
 
The Times investigates the effect the English smoking ban may have on pubs.
 
‘The introduction of the smoking ban is the biggest change in more than 20 years; and pub owners are scrambling to ensure they will cope when it comes into force.
 
The nation’s biggest landlords including Punch Taverns, Enterprise Inns and Greene King, have announced spending of more than £100m to equip pubs with facilities to offer smokers somewhere pleasant outside to enjoy a drink and a cigarette.
 
The long-term outlook may not be entirely gloomy. James Ainley, analyst at JP Morgan, said: “We think that there is a risk of some downturn in sales in the short term, but expect that the longer-term impact on the trade could actually be positive.”
 
It is the issue of food that gives most pub industry executives hope for the longer-term health of the sector.  Tim Clarke, chief executive of Mitchells & Butlers, has been concentrating on growing food sales. Meals now account for almost 40% of group sales.
 
The argument runs that about three-quarters of Britain’s population does not smoke; of those, there will be a hefty proportion who might be tempted to frequent pubs once they become smokefree, and that serving good food is the obvious way of getting them there.
 
One can go too far the other way. Rooney Anand, chief executive of Greene King, said that one of the lessons from Scotland is that some pubs concentrated so hard on churning out good quality food that they neglected the drinks side of the business. “That left them with no steady cashflow once the novelty of the restaurant wore off. You need to get the balance right,” he said.
 
Andrew Andrea from Wolverhampton & Dudley (W&D) said one of the biggest challenges was convincing tenants to take action before the ban hits. Although more than 1,000 W&D tenants have signed up to participate in the company scheme to prepare for the ban, with a further 300 said they will do their own thing, there are 300 others “still to work on”.
 
As the industry braces, a fall in custom is not the only thing landlords fear. Take the outdoor heaters many pubs are installing; they are a big contributor to global warming and could generate customer hostility.’
 
Source: The Times 26 November 2006
Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/yha2mk
 
 
Pubs in Fife to stage a closed door protest over smoking ban
 
A number of clubs and pubs in Fife are planning to close for one night as part of their ongoing protest against the Scottish Executive’s smoking ban.
 
The action will take place in January to raise awareness of the plight of licensed premises. Among those worst affected are clubs used by older people such as the Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation (CISWO) Club in Glenrothes and various other premises, from bingo halls to bowling alleys across the region.
 
Licensees want the Executive to relax the law to include provision for a well-ventilated smoking room and have collected around 9000 signatures in support of their call.
 
The petition will be handed in to the Scottish Parliament at the start of the year. 
 
David Nelson, secretary of the CISWO Club, said: “So far 32 premises that have said they are willing to shut their doors.” He continued that: “It’s been bad enough during the summer but it’s only going to get worse now that the colder weather’s here. On top of that, people are starting to complain about folk smoking at the front door.”
 
Mr Nelson continued, “Closing the pubs will get the Executive’s attention as it’s a protest to get them to look at the law again and let us have a smoking room.”
 
Source: Tayside and Fife Courier 24 November 2006
Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/yl9cl8
 
 
Queen of Denmark will stop smoking in public
 
The Queen of Denmark Margrethe of Denmark, who has been cruelly dubbed the “Ashtray Queen” will stop smoking in public. She will undertake this move when a ban on smoking in enclosed spaces comes into effect.
 
“You will not see the Queen smoking in public any more,” Lis Frederiksen, the Danish court spokeswoman, said yesterday.
 
The Queen has been frequently criticised by anti-smoking campaigners, especially when she was seen lighting up in front of asthmatic pensioners at an old people’s home.
 
Source: The Times 25 November 2006
Link to article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2470473,00.html

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