BMA to deliver smoking ban letters to Downing Street

Letters
from 4,500 doctors calling for a ban on smoking in workplaces are to be
delivered to Downing Street today.

The
letters are due to be delivered inside a giant cigarette packet by
representatives of the British Medical Association (BMA).

The
packet will be labelled: "Passive smoking kills. Smokefree workplaces save
lives."

Meanwhile,
an ICM poll for the BBC Breakfast programme found 65 per cent of people backed
a smoking ban in enclosed public places.

One
of the organisers of the BMA action, Dr Peter Maguire, told the BBC: "It
is unequivocally clear that 1,000 people die per year in the UK as a direct
result of passive smoking. This is unacceptable in the 21st century."

"All
workers must be protected from the killing effects of tobacco smoke," he
said.

A
smoking ban in public places such as bars and restaurants would help these
people to quit, by making it harder and less convenient to have a cigarette, he
added.

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The
BMA campaign coincides with the launch of the Government’s latest hard-hitting
anti-smoking television advert.

By Mike Berry