|
London: Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) has asked the government to consider a ban on smoking in cars in an attempt to protect children and young people from second-hand smoke.
The appeal comes in a report by the pressure group that said smoking now costs the NHS £2.7 billion a year, one billion more than a decade ago. The cost would have risen to more than £3 billion annually had action not led to a fall in the number of smokers from 12 to nine million, it added.
The report called for the government to take more action in health legislation to be unveiled in December, with demands for plain packaging of tobacco products and a ban on shop displays.
ASH also wants "serious consideration" of a ban on smoking behind the wheel. Such a move, it noted, had been taken by some countries and it argued there was majority public support in Britain for a ban in vehicles carrying children.
Pro-smoking groups argue that measures such as banning tobacco displays would not work. Instead, they advocate stronger enforcement of a ban on selling tobacco to those under 18.
"Far from being a drain on society, smokers make an enormous financial contribution," said Simon Clark, director of the lobby group Forest told the BBC.
|
