Will the smoking ban work? *Originally published 2007*

 The smoking ban is part of the on going mission by the U.K government to reduce the number of smokers estimated at 26% of the adult population to 21% by 2010. The ban, introduced in July 2007, makes it illegal for anyone to smoke in any enclosed public area in England and Wales. Thus following the example of Scotland, which had introduced the bad in the spring of 2006. Is the smoking ban working in the U.K? Will the government meet its target?

The figures so far seem to indicate that the smoking ban is a success. It’s estimated that the number of adult smokers has dropped by 2% since the introduction of the ban. Indeed the NHS (National Health Service) has reported higher number of smokers joining the smoking programmes and even higher numbers of those who have successfully quit. It seems that the combination of the ban and the anti-smoking adverts have finally forced smokers to quit the habit. This is of course true but perhaps the biggest contributing factor to the success of the ban so far has been the change of attitude towards smoking/smokers by the general public. Those who smoke find themselves isolated and under pressure to quit. Gone are the days when companies provided ‘smoking rooms’ for their smoker employees. Whether they are at work or on a night out smokers are no longer allowed a safe heaven to indulge in their habit resorting to standing in hidden corners outside buildings at the mercy of the English weather. The increasingly vivid anti-smoking adverts on TV and radios make it even more difficult for the smokers to escape the pressure to quit. As far as most non-smokers are concerned if the pressure will encourage many more smokers to quit and most importantly discourage the youth to light up then its worth it. The government agrees so much so that plans to remove tobacco products from shop counters have been proposed. If these plans go ahead it will be illegal for shopkeepers to place any tobacco products on counters where young customers will be able to see them.

Despite these encouraging figures others remain unconvinced. Behavioural psychologists and other independent bodies warn that these figures should be taken very lightly. They warn that not only are many quitters just as likely to return to smoking but also the general public attitude towards smoking/smokers, and the subsequent laws in tackling this issue may in the long run cause more harm than good. In order to understand the reason behind these warning it’s worth firstly to explain the different types of smokers. There are technical four types of smokers.

1)    The ‘casual/social’ smokers – These are individuals who largely smoke only in the company of other smokers e.g., when they are socializing.

2)     The ‘stress’ smokers – These individuals smoke when under stress or facing difficulties.

3)    The ‘habitual’ smokers – These individual smoke as a part of a ritual in that say they will smoke only when doing a certain activity such as watching TV or while fishing, or at certain times like before they leave the house for example.

4)    The ‘pleasure’ smokers – These individuals smoke when they feel good. They may smoke after a good meal or achieving a goal or even simply because they love the taste/smell of tobacco.

Looking at these types of smokers it becomes clear why the ban will not work in the long run. The ban may have encouraged many of the ‘social/casual’ smokers to quit, since the social areas are no longer a trigger for them to light up. However the ban is unlikely to successfully affect the remaining three types of smokers. This is because the ‘social/casual’ smokers who by their very nature smoke periodically i.e., when socializing and includes those who only smoke on weekends when out with friends or only when in company of certain friends but not others and so on. This periodic smoking habit on average gives them an overall low nicotine dependency unlike their counterparts. This lower addiction makes it easier for the ‘casual/social’ smokers to quite the habit. The other types; the ‘habitual’, ‘pleasure’ and ‘stress’ smokers, who on average tend to smoke more cigarettes as well as more frequent, are likely to have higher nicotine dependency. This higher dependency adds to the difficulty in quitting smoking for these individuals as well as the likelihood of the individuals failing to remain a non-smoker over time. In fact many such smokers admit to have tried to quit several times in their lifetime. A fact acknowledged by the NHS smoking programs, which has lead to (in part) the support group initiatives current incorporated within the programs for such individuals.

Although the current ban alongside other anti-smoking measures may create enough pressure and/or motivation for these types of smokers to join a quitting program both the high nicotine dependency as well as the negative side effects caused by nicotine withdrawal may result in relapsing back to smoking. The case of a ‘pleasure’ smoker who initially feel good and pumped up for not smoking for a few days but then slowly irritability/moodiness and even depression become overwhelming and he returns to smoking in an attempt to elevate these symptoms and feel good again. This is just one scenario, there are many. This can also lead to a vicious cycle creating the so called serial quitters; smokers who feeling the pressure join a quitting program but return to smoking due to side effects only to re-join the program when they next feel the pressure/encouragement to quit and so on. Although side effects of nicotine withdrawal can play a part in the reasons behind some quitters return to smoking, the most common factor by far is stress specifically sudden stressful events. Sudden stressful events such as loss of a loved one, loss of a job, divorce and so on have been proven in a number of studies to be a major contributing factor behind a number of addictions in certain individuals. Smoking is no exception. In fact many smokers admit to either starting to smoke as a result of a stressful event or to have returned to smoking after successfully quitting following such events. The results why some people turn to addictions such as alcohol or smoking among others when facing stressful are not fully understood and continue to be investigated. What is clear however is that stress is a major factor in smoking. It is therefore appropriate perhaps to look deeper into the ‘stress’ smoker type and possible role the ban could play in these individuals.

The ‘stress’ smokers group include those individuals who smoke as a response to stressful situations/events both those events that happen suddenly as discussed above as well as general stress in everyday lives. Everyday stresses include worries over bills, family matters, stressful occupations, dealing with deadlines and so on. It is interesting to note that many in this group were also reported to light up as a result of watching certain anti-smoking adverts. The vivid anti-smoking adverts aiming to shock the smokers by graphically highlighting the devastating horrors of the habit created feelings of upset and stress in some ‘stress’ smokers. This in turn triggered the need to turn to smoking as a way of dealing with the stressful feelings caused. In other words the adverts not only achieved the opposite of what they were intended for but also increased the number of cigarettes smoked by some of the individuals.

It is therefore likely that the current pressure created by the ban as well as the changing general public attitude/tolerance to smoking and/or smokers could have the reverse effect on some individuals in this group. In other words the pressure may result in added stress for these individuals who are most likely to then turn to smoking even more.

The current ban may have successfully created smoke free pubs, bars and other public areas, to the delight of many non-smokers. However if the focus of the ban and other pending legislation is to encourage smokers to quit the habit successfully, more debate, research and investigation is required in this area. These measures will allow a much in depth understanding of both the pros and cons of smoking, the psychology behind smoking in different types of smokers and so on. This in turn will bring about the more effective ways of dealing with this issue. Otherwise the ban and other measures currently been negotiated at the House Of Commons risk been nothing more than poorly thought-out, knee-jerk reactions to an issue that may never go away.