Latest news with #secondhandsmoke
CBS News
15 hours ago
- Health
- CBS News
Proposed cigar lounge at Detroit Metro Detroit Airport getting pushback from health group
The Detroit Wayne Oakland Tobacco Free Coalition is hoping plans for a proposed cigar lounge at Detroit Metro Airport do not move forward. The coalition has gone as far as to fund billboards near the airport calling for the airport authority to say no to indoor smoking. Members surveyed 600 people from around the state, asking if they'd support a cigar lounge that allows smoking inside DTW. About 77% of those who responded said no. "Our entire goal is to educate the public," said American Heart Association Community advocacy director A'Lynne Boles Dukes. Boles Dukes, also a coalition member, says an airport is not the place to approve indoor smoking. "How do you make exposing others to second-hand smoke safe?" she said. She says it's not just about the smoke coming from the lounge, but also concerns about when someone boards their flight after visiting it. "This is on a flight with children, with people with asthma, and who don't have a choice about who they sit next to. And they're going to carry those carcinogens on their bodies, and I've got to inhale that? That's the part that makes this so egregious," she said. The Wayne County Airport Authority released a statement, saying, "We developed the Cigar Lounge and Restaurant Concessions Opportunity in response to interest from the community and local businesses, especially as it relates to the international nature of the airport ... Bidders will be required to provide a state-of-the-art air handling and ventilation system and facility design to reduce smoke exposure to the fullest extent possible." The authority didn't specify if some smoke exposure could be permitted. Officials said they value any public feedback as they start getting word out to businesses about the opportunity. The Wayne County Airport Authority board will have a meeting at 2 p.m. Wednesday, July 16, at the Evans Terminal. It's open to the public in person or virtually.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Fuming French stub out Macron's smoking ban: The smokers ignoring crackdown on lighting up in public places as Emmanuel bids to create tobacco-free generation
French smokers are still grappling with new laws introducing a blanket ban on smoking in public places. The ban, covering beaches, parks, public gardens and bus shelters, is aimed at protecting children from the harms of second-hand smoke. But it continues to divide opinion, with just 62 per cent supporting the move, according to a survey conducted before it took effect on July 1. Smokers on the Plage des Catalans in Marseille were reminded of their obligations by loudspeaker last week when told to move on to a raised concrete area off the beach. But one retired brasserie owner said she was promptly told to move by police who seemed not to understand the scope of the new rules, The Times reports. The ban is not supposed to outlaw smoking on pavements or highways. Conversely, those working on the beaches say people are still lighting up by the sea regardless, despite local bans having been in place for years. A lifeguard told the outlet that he had stopped a handful of people during a short patrol. Marseille has been fining smokers for lighting up on beaches since 2019, clearly marking out affected areas with signs. The lifeguard told The Times that the problem was people still 'didn't respect it'. But those violating the ban now stand to be fined €135 (£117) - three and a half times the €38 fine initially floated in Marseille. France has its work cut out in trying to move away from glamourised cinema portraits of artists, philosophers and movie stars smoking cigarettes and sipping coffee against the Paris skyline. When France brought in its new law, it excluded café terraces from the ban. And government crackdowns on tobacco use have already met resistance. 'In France, we still have this mindset of saying, "This is a law that restricts freedom,"' Philippe Bergerot, president of the French League Against Cancer, told the Associated Press. The ban aims 'to promote what we call denormalisation. In people's minds, smoking is normal,' he said. 'We aren't banning smoking; we are banning smoking in certain places where it could potentially affect people's health and ... young people.' The rules extend a ban on smoking in entertainment venues brought in around the time Britain also introduced its comprehensive smoking ban. In 2008, France outlawed smoking in establishments like restaurants and nightclubs. The country had planned to introduce widespread measures to extend this to public places last year, but the decree needed was never adopted. Some 1,500 municipalities brought in their own rules banning smoking on public beaches instead. Data still varies. A report by the French League Against Cancer found that almost 80 per cent of French people support a ban on smoking in public places like beaches and terraces. While more than 30 per cent of French adults still smoke cigarettes, most of them daily, the government is aiming to move towards a 'tobacco-free generation' from 2032. The Health Ministry is particularly concerned that tobacco remains popular among young people, citing public health statistics showing that 15 per cent of 17-year-olds smoke. Black market cigarette trading is common. Noting that 90 per cent of young people start smoking before the age of 18, France is taking measures to limit the flavours of vaping products and reduce the level of nicotine allowed in them. And France has banned the sale, manufacture and distribution of single-use vapes. E-cigarettes are, nonetheless, exempt from the ban. A notice announcing the ban online reminds citizens: 'Tobacco use kills 75,000 people in France every year, or more than 200 deaths a day.'
South China Morning Post
06-07-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
France's new law protects children from second-hand smoke
Last week, France banned smoking on beaches, in parks and outside schools to protect children. Smoking is also banned in public gardens, bus shelters and sports facilities throughout the country. The ban does not include cafe terraces and does not apply to electronic cigarettes. Protecting children from smoke Catherine Vautrin, France's health and families minister, said smoking kills around 200 people every day in the country. 'Where there are children, tobacco must disappear,' she said. Children are frequently exposed to second-hand smoke. This type of smoke is smoke you do not mean to breathe in. It is produced when a tobacco product burns or when a smoker exhales. Even small amounts of second-hand smoke can cause harm. The only way to completely protect people who do not smoke is to get rid of smoking in public spaces. No more smoke According to a report published in May, smoking is actually at a historic low in France. Less than a quarter of French people aged 18 to 75 smoke daily. This is the lowest it has been since the late 1990s. The United Kingdom announced a similar smoking ban last year. According to the World Health Organization, Ireland was the first nation to ban smoking. In 2004, the country passed a law that stopped people from smoking in workplaces, restaurants and bars.
