The law aims to protect workers and the general public from the harmful effects of passive smoking. It is estimated that exposure to second-hand smoke increases the risk of lung cancer in adult non-smokers by 24 per cent and heart disease in adult non-smokers by 25 per cent.



Passive smoking also causes respiratory disease and asthma in non-smoking adults and children. The UK Scientific Committee on Tobacco and Health concluded in 2004 that second-hand smoke is a serious public health risk. Those in charge of the premises would be fools to let you get away with it, especially considering that they could face a ?2,500 fine if they fail to stop you. They could also be charged on-the-spot fines of ?200 if they fail to display no-smoking signs, with the penalty increasing to ?1,000 if the issue goes to court.

With the UK goverments decision to finally ban smoking in all public places by mid 2007. The future of the nation health looks set to improve, with reductions in smoking related diseses.

Studies from New York have shown a 20% reduction in the number of people lighting up and a greater reduction of cigarettes being smoked by the people who have failed to kick the habit. Its difficult to see any negative impact the new legistition with have on the citizens on the United Kingdom.

However the impact on the enviroment of this country will be more noticable. With people being forced to smoke outside the workplace, pubs, restaurant and all other public building, the increase in cigarette litter will be increadible. With millions of cigarette per day being smoked outside, it will not be long before tons of addition litter will be effecting the places we all live and work.

There is a lot of misinformation out there regarding cigarette butt litter. The biggest myth is that cigarette filters are biodegradable. In fact, cigarette butts are not biodegradable in the sense that most people think of the word. The acetate (plastic) filters can take many years to decompose. Smokers may not realize that their actions have such a lasting, negative impact on the environment.

What happens after that butt gets casually flicked onto the street, nature trail, or beach? Typically wind and rain carry the cigarette into the water supply, where the toxic chemicals the cigarette filter was designed to trap leak out into aquatic ecosystems, threatening the quality of the water and many aquatic lifeforms. Cigarette butts may seem small, but with several trillion butts littered every year, the toxic chemicals add up!

The battle against cigarette litter can only be won if smokers join the fight on the right side. There are already millions of smokers who don't litter their cigarettes, and many of them are actively spreading the word to fellow smokers. Unfortunately, they are still a small minority. If you are a considerate smoker who doesn't litter, THANK YOU! Please continue setting a positive example and please continue to help us in any way that you can.

We are also as a country going to require additional public spending to keep clean our towns, cities and countryside. Its been estimated the cost of keeping our country clean and dealing with the problem will run into 100's of millions of pounds per year. Enforcement of anti-litter law with play a very important part of reducing the impact of cigarette litter, but more importantly providing cigarette bins and outdoor ashtrays will greatly reduce the numbers of cigarette butts littering the country by collecting them in the areas there people will continue to smoke.

When people think of enforcement they too often think of the police or other government agencies. It is true that we need more enforcement of existing litter laws from those groups, but the best enforcement for something like this comes from friends, co-workers, and family. If you know someone who litters, tell him or her openly how you feel about it. If your employer allows you or your colleges to smoke at the back door of the work place, then ask them to provide a cigarette bin. If you or your friends smoke outside the pub then ask the landlord to provide an outdoor ashtray for disposal of cigarette litter. This is a problem we can all help to reduce one butt at a time.