With smoking now banned inside public spaces, smoking outside can make us feel like outsiders, always having to pop out for a quick drag. We're seen as outsiders too, as society turns its back on smoking, seeing it for what it really is. No wonder so many of us are questioning why we do it.
The good news is that since the ban in July 2007, there has been a drop in the effect of secondhand smoking. One study in Scotland showed an immediate fall in heart attacks. In Camden we measured the smoke in the air at a local pub, before and after the ban. Our post-ban measurements showed 54% less pollution (measured in PM2.5) of the type linked with increased hospital admissions, long term exposure to which is linked to people dying early.
Even the most hardened smokers among us agree that it's not fair to put people in harmful situations at work, so it's good that banning smoking in the workplace makes it safer for everyone.
