It’s about time.
Nearly three years since former Health Minister Gilbert McLean announced the government was considering strict public smoking laws, and nearly two years since current Health Minister Anthony Eden said he intended to follow through with those laws, the country is finally expected to see on Monday what laws are actually proposed when the Tobacco Bill is tabled as a discussion document in the Legislative Assembly.
The purpose of the Bill is to reduce tobacco use in the Cayman Islands; to protect the public from exposure to harmful tobacco smoke; to protect minors and non-smokers from inducements to use tobacco; and to inform the public sufficiently about the dangers of tobacco use and second-hand smoke.
According to United Nations’ statistics, tobacco kills five million people globally each year. Use of tobacco or exposure to second-hand smoke raises the cost of health care, causes lost productivity at the workplace, and negatively affects the quality of people’s lives.
Globally, and especially in developed countries, tobacco use is becoming less and less socially acceptable, primarily because of the dangers it poses.
Entire countries in Europe and many municipalities and states in the United States have enacted strict public smoking laws in recent years. Many fear-mongers with special interests have warned that those laws would cripple businesses like bars and restaurants, but these fears have turned out to be unwarranted.
There are similar fears here, and some bar and restaurant owners are already trying to influence the Cayman government as to how far the provisions of the Tobacco Bill should go.
These bar and restaurant owners will argue that to ban smoking altogether at their establishments will hurt their business because people will stop coming if they can’t smoke inside. That’s nonsense, and it’s already been proven in jurisdictions that experience miserable weather conditions, where people would have even less desire to go outside and smoke.
In addition, several establishments here in Cayman have already gone smoke-free on their own accord with good results.
A tough public smoking law is likely to have a positive effect on tourism, as well. Many of the tourists who come here are coming from places that have already enacted public smoking laws and they don’t like having to breathe in toxic fumes caused by smokers.
We hope the government stands firm in its resolve to enact strict legislation that will truly help attain the stated purposes of the Bill.
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