02/07/2008
The smoking ban has protected thousands of UK workers, a leading health charity has claimed. According to Cancer UK, since the introduction of the ban on smoking in public places, employees have either benefited from improved air quality or were more likely to give up. Sara Hiom, Cancer Research UK's director of health information, said: "At least 400,000 smokers have quit as a direct result of the law." "Research shows that the smoke-free law is not only protecting workers from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke, but it is also encouraging smokers to quit." The charity has announced the legislation triggered the biggest drop in smoking ever seen in the UK. It claimed the law will help prevent an estimated 40,000 deaths over the next ten years. Pro-smoking pressure group, Forest, has spoken out against the ban, which came into force on July 1st 2007. "Many [smokers] still feel enormous anger, resentment and frustration at the extent of the legislation," it said.
|
