2006 law has stubbed out smoking
SUNDAY 2 JULY 2006 was a momentous day in Guernsey. Arguably, it was the day which started to change everything.
Most people were sleeping when the law banning smoking in enclosed public spaces kicked in at 4 o’clock on a summer’s morning.
The response in the following day’s Press, reporters having toured a few pubs on a lovely afternoon, was positive.
And it has stayed so. Nowadays even many smokers would agree it’s been one the best decisions that the States have ever made.
It has surely been one of the most persuasive measures that have been adopted as the island has looked to tackle smoking on the grounds of improving health, and today, on National No Smoking Day, the Health Improvement Commission reveals that islanders want to see even more restrictions on where smokers can light up.
Eleven ideas, including raising the age for buying tobacco, reducing the number of shops selling tobacco, and tackling duty free tobacco sales, all received majority support in a survey of nearly 1,000 people.
Back in the day there was a last-minute effort made to block the smoking ban.
But this debate has moved on over the past 20 years.
It would be no surprise if, by the end of the decade, many, if not all, of these ideas have come into force.