WA's tough anti-smoking laws in force - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

as was posted here ... WA's tough anti-smoking laws in force - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

The toughest anti-smoking laws in the country will come into effect in WA today.

From today, smoking will be banned in cars carrying children, between the flags at beaches and within 10 metres of playground equipment.

Restrictions will also apply in alfresco areas and retailers will be banned from displaying tobacco products.

The Australian Council on Smoking and Health president Mike Daube thinks the laws will help more people quit smoking.

"It means quite simply that we're going to be saving more lives and preventing more disease," he said.

"I think it's going to help a lot of people quit. We know from the evidence that just the news about measures like this is an incentive to quit and the introduction of measures to protect people from the dangers of passive smoking; this reminds smokers that their smoking doesn't just harm them, it harms other people."

The Asthma Foundation's Fiona Gardener hopes the laws will benefit asthmatics.

"For a lot of people that I know the only thing that triggers an asthma attack for them is exposure to cigarette smoke so obviously asthma is a very serious condition and people do sadly continue to die from asthma attacks, even in this day and age so anything that reduces their exposure to triggers is a fantastic thing from our perspective.

"We're quietly confident that it will be effective."

Ms Gardener says the foundation will be monitoring the incidence of asthma attacks over the next couple of months to see whether there is any impact.

The Australian Hotels Association believes there is a lack of awareness in the community about the laws and says a bigger education campaign should have been rolled out before they were introduced.

Enforcement

While police will be responsible for monitoring smoking in cars, local governments will have to enforce most of the new laws.

Broome Shire President Graeme Campbell said yesterday it is a flawed system.

"Governments, both federally and state, bring in laws involving local government without resourcing," he said.

"Certainly from a shire perspective, we will be looking at the legislation, we'll be looking at our responsibilities but it may be some time before we're able to enforce them."

The Health Department's Jim Dodds says he is not expecting problems.

"Local governments have for some years been been responsible for enforcing that legislation and that will continue with the new changes," he said.

"We've believe that the current resourcing they've got with their environmental health officers and rangers will allow them to enforce the legislation in the way that they have enforced other public health legislation in their communities," he said.