The recent news that police are choosing not to enforce a new law protecting children from people smoking in cars has again brought the habit into focus along with the fact that it is anti-social and unhealthy.
The BBC reported that, according to Freedom of Information responses from 42 English and Welsh forces, no fines have been issued since the law came into force in October 2015 – when t was hailed as a ‘a landmark in protecting children from second hand smoke’.
In the first seven months of the law being in force, only three police forces in England and Wales reported incidents and all were dealt with by verbal warnings.
Nigel Rabbits, branch spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police Federation, which represents officers, said the figures are not surprising because the law is unenforceable and ‘poor legislation that hasn’t been thought through and very difficult to enforce because you are talking about looking at a vehicle and trying to figure out what’s going on inside’.
Any driver or passenger who smokes is liable for a £50 fine if a passenger under 18 is in vehicle with them.
The legislation followed advice from health experts, who said it was necessary to protect about three million children a year exposed in this way to the effects of second hand smoke.
Anti-smoking campaigner Deborah Arnott of Action on Smoking and Health said: “This is a social law. We are never going to see the police putting a large amount of effort into it.
“But by having the legislation and penalties we send a strong message to people that this is no longer acceptable.”
The Department of Health said: “In changing the law we always said the measure of success would be in changes in attitude and behaviour, not number of enforcement actions. As with other smoke-free legislation, we expect high levels of compliance with this change that will continue to grow.”
With laws and health campaigns to stop smoking growing, clinical hypnotherapy is becoming more of a viable option to many and members of the National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH) have recorded high successes in this field.
About 100,000 people in the UK die each year due to smoking, statistics show with smoking-related deaths mainly due to cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart disease. About half of all smokers die from smoking-related diseases.
Hypnotherapy can successfully help smokers quit their unwanted habit and lead a healthier life – all the smoker has to do is be committed to changing his habit. And, according to the website patient.info, it is never too late to stop smoking to greatly benefit one’s health.
“For example, if you stop smoking in middle age, before having cancer or some other serious disease, you avoid most of the increased risk of death due to smoking,” the site says.
A hypnotherapist, in the initial session with a smoker, will often discover that the habit started in a peer group situation and this often this stems from a desire to blend in, to become part of a group.
This ‘unwanted’ habit can be removed, with the therapist using a variety of hypnotic techniques, giving the former total freedom from side effects.