Previous petition PE1042 in 2007 called for the establishment of an air quality standard. The committee deferred consideration of this petition until the smoking ban came up for review, but it was not known in 2007 when post-legislative scrutiny would take place. It is mentioned in the Legacy Report for the Health and Sport Committee, published at the end of the last session.
We wish to update our position in light of the time elapsed, and further developments since PE1042.
Two of our members have recently presented relevant evidence in a meeting with the Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy, Jackie Baillie MSP. Ms Baillie has been fully briefed but no subsequent meeting has been arranged.
Our campaign to date has included the following activities:
• Demonstrations, including one at the conference announcing the results of Pell’s study (‘junk science stat of the year’), entitled ‘Towards a smoke-free Scotland’; and outside the venue of the UKNSCC (smoking cessation conference) in Glasgow, 2010. http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa0706740
• Signing the Aldebaran Treaty in 2008 to launch The International Coalition Against Prohibition, recognising that the smoking ban has been replicated in other countries all over the world
• Campaigning vigorously against further extensions of the smoking ban– including the move in 2009 to abolish the exemption that existed in respect of mental health facilities, including a call to withdraw the 2009 mental health consultation on the smoking ban, which made specific claims about the health effects of secondary smoke, cited no references, and was manifestly biased in favour of a change in legislation. We also presented a petition PE1246 to the Parliament on this in 2009
• Campaigning against the plan by NHS Grampian to ban smoking on its premises and to ban staff from carrying tobacco while on duty (this involved letters, a press release and several media appearances)
• Complaint to Press Complaints Commission about press report claiming that flouting the smoking policy of NHS Borders (regarding smoking outdoors on NHS premises) was a breach of the law. The editor accepted the complaint and has issued a correction
• Blogging and supporting other blogs to educate the public about our views.