LIFE STYLE

Why we banned smoking in public places – Fashola

Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), yesterday said his government decided to restrict smoking in public to save non-smokers from health hazards that come with the habit.

In a related development, the General Manager, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), Adebola Shabi, has warned smokers to confine themselves to areas designated for their indulgence or face the wrath of the law from August 17, 2014.

Speaking at a one-day Sensitisation Campaign/Stakeholders meeting on Non-smoking in Public Places Law, organised by LASEPA at Agidingbi, Fashola insisted that uncontrolled smoking was a danger to the health of the public.

A trend where a significant portion of public funds was devoted to providing health and medical facilities for the people due to the problem arising from smoking, the governor said, would deny the state huge resources that should be used for the socio-economic development of the society.

Represented by Dr. Yewande Adesina, Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Health, Fashola explained that Lagos State Public Place Smoking Law did not ban smoking in the state outrightly.

Saying smokers had a right to indulge in their habit, the governor asserted that they must, however, do so within areas designated as smoking zones by the law.

His words: “If you must smoke, do so with decency and protect other people from the deleterious effect on innocent, secondary smokers and the environment at large…It is simply a restriction of smoking in public places and not an outright ban. A situation where smokers converge to pollute a public gathering with cigarette smoke without regard for the health or convenience of non-smokers is not acceptable.”

He urged stakeholders to cooperate with LASEPA in the implementation of the law to guarantee good health for the public.

Meanwhile, the General Manager of LASEPA, Shabi has advised smokers to adjust their lifestyles to suit the provisions of the anti-smoking law or be prepared to do battle with his men and the law.

Warning government agencies against abuse, the LASEPA boss said the law against public smoking would not be effective until expiration of the six-month period of grace ending on August 17.

He explained that the law would not apply to streets, roads and expressways. Shabi, however, said smokers would only be allowed to smoke in designated places at hotels, clubs, stadia, cinemas, event centres, among other areas defined as public places by the law.

Those who smoked in the presence of persons under 18 years, he added, risked being convicted and sentenced to one month in prison or one year in case of a repeat of the offence.

Also, sponsor of the bill that culminated in the anti-public-smoking law, Yishawu Olusegun, stated that the state House of Assembly enacted the piece of legislation because members believed it was the “duty of government to protect the sanctity of our lives.”

He insisted that the law was motivated by the need to save the public from the harmful effects of smoking and not meant to constrict smokers’ right of choice.