Family doctors welcome smoking ban

The Malta College of Family Doctors has welcomed the Smoking in Public Places Regulations.

Congratulating the Health Division's initiative to safeguard the health of non-smokers through avoiding their involuntary exposure to smoke, the college said it fully supported the Health Department's stand to ban smoking in public places.

"Environmental tobacco smoke is an important source of exposure to toxic air contaminants indoors and continues to be a public health concern," it said.

The college said exposure to passive smoking was causally associated with a number of developmental, respiratory, carcinogenic and cardiovascular effects, including deaths from conditions such as sudden infant death syndrome, lung cancer and heart disease, as well as serious chronic diseases such as childhood asthma.

"There are in addition associated effects which include spontaneous abortion, cervical cancer, and exacerbation of asthma."

The college also quoted the 'Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report' issued by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The MCFD also wishes to bring to the notice of the local business community that, contrary to unfounded declarations from some of its members, research published on February 27 shows that no statistically significant changes in restaurant and bar revenues occurred after a smoking ban took effect in El Paso, Texas."

According to the MCFD, these findings were consistent with those from studies of smoking bans in other cities in the US.

The Health Department's announcement that smoking would be banned from all public places has stirred up controversy in recent weeks. The GRTU, Malta Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprise, and the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association have voiced concern over the way in which anti-smoking laws were being introduced in Malta.

While the MHRA deplored the fact that it was not consulted on the issue, the GRTU has labelled these regulations "draconian", insisting the new rules would have negative implications on business, especially the leisure sector where smoking was ingrained.

When the new rules come into force on April 5, leisure establishment owners face a Lm100 fine or up to three months in prison and suspension of their licence, if the police catch a person smoking in their establishment.

Insisting that it is not a pro-smoking lobby, the GRTU is saying the anti-smoking legislation will have a crippling effect on the leisure industry, and on the retail business as a whole.