State’s extended smoke bans kick butt

WHILE it’s hard to measure the success that smoking bans are having in the region, they’ve been getting praise from various groups and identities lately.

WHILE it's hard to measure the success that smoking bans are having in the region, they've been getting praise from various groups and identities lately.

In the Lismore CBD, where a smoking ban (unmonitored) was introduced earlier this year, Lismore Mayor Jenny Dowell said it had been receiving a lot of positive feedback.

She said early on in the scheme she had complaints of people still smoking in the streets, but she hasn't had any of those complaints in the past couple of months.

In fact, Cr Dowell said, there have been requests for more signage and stickers, and so orders for more have been placed.

She'd also been hearing positive comments from locals about the healthier environments in outdoor eating areas at many CBD cafes while they enjoyed a coffee.

On a wider scale, the extension of NSW's smoking bans that were introduced in January have been praised for their success by the Northern NSW Health Promotion Unit and North Coast Public Health in a new study.

The extended smoking bans, which cover public places such as children's playgrounds, public trans- port stops, sporting fields, public swimming pools and entrances to all public buildings, were recently monitored as part of a state-wide audit.

During the audit, 18 cautionary notices were issued to smokers, but overall the study praised the ban for its success.