Outdoor dining areas will be smoke free by July 2016 in an effort to reduce the number of South Australian smokers.
There is not a scintilla of evidence that 'exposure' to smoke outdoors causes any harm to bystanders, so the South Australian government has resorted to the tyranny of the majority, as seen through the prism of a public sector consultation.
“The majority of people who responded to our public consultation last year indicated that they supported the introduction of smoke-free outdoor dining areas,” Mr Snelling said
More interesting than this routine illiberalism is the following admission...
Health Minister Jack Snelling said the new measures would help to tackle an increase in the State’s smoking rates which have increased from 16.7 per cent to 19.4 percent over the past 12 months.
Hang on, didn't Australia become a world leader a little over a year ago by introducing a fantastic new policy that would reduce the appeal of smoking and signal the end of tobacco use in Australia?
The Minister doesn't mention plain packaging in his press release. Instead, he blames the rise in smoking on budget cuts...
As a result of the smoking rate increase, the State Government will re-instate $1.1 million a year in anti-tobacco mass media campaigns.
“We can’t afford another year of smoking increases so that advertising funding will be re-instated,” Mr Snelling said. “The recent rise in smoking rates has demonstrated the importance that anti-smoking advertising has in preventing people taking up the habit, and supporting those wanting to quit.”
This may an excuse to save the state's blushes or it may not. At best, the message seems to be that educational campaigns work and plain packaging doesn't.
