The UK marked the first anniversary of its smoking ban last weekend with four lakh people quitting smoking in the last one year, according to the Department of Health, UK.

In this time, London authorities inspected 65,601 premises and 1,670 taxis, coaches and buses. Of these, 942 premises and 57 vehicles failed to comply. The fine in the UK is £2,500 (around Rs 2 lakh) for premises breaking the law and £50 (around Rs 4,000) on the spot for individuals.

One of those fined last week is a London scaffolding worker. Thomas McSorley (39) was fined £50 at Pendle, London, for smoking in his work van while on a break. He was also ordered to pay £150 prosecution costs.

In a one-hour raid at London Bridge station in April, 19 people were fined £50 (Rs 4,000).

Also, the Rolling Stones were fined £100 (Rs 8,000) last year for smoking on stage in Hampden Park, Glasgow.

"The results show smoke-free laws have encouraged smokers to quit," said Jean King, Director of Tobacco Control at Cancer Research, UK. "These laws are saving lives and we mustn't forget that half of all smokers die from tobacco-related illness."

Abigail Hook is a 27-year-old who had smoked since she was 14, but gave up this year because of the ban.

"It used to be so easy to light up with a drink in your hand or after a meal but now you have to go outside the pub to smoke in cordoned off areas, it makes you feel like a naughty schoolgirl and you die from cold in winter! I smoked all my life but now I have stopped, I feel much healthier and have more energy," she said.

"Not only do these policies achieve their aim of protecting the health of non-smokers by decreasing exposure to second-hand smoke, they also have many effects on smoking behaviour, which compound the health benefits," the Lancet Oncology special report said.

The World Health Organisation said that ten per cent of the world's smokers came from India. They estimate that over 200 million men and 50 million women use tobacco in India, killing one million people each year.

SECOND-YEAR COMMERCE student Shabbir Merchant (name changed on request) has been trying to kick the butt for six months.

"I have got tired of smoking and my friends dislike the habit too. But as soon as I get out of college, there is this shop that sells cigarettes and I get tempted to smoke. It isn't the only one to blame but a little temptation also creates a problem," said the 19-year-old Bandra resident and a student of Khar Education Society College of Commerce and Economics, Bandra.

However, according to law, sale of tobacco within 100 yards of educational institutions is prohibited and so are the advertisements of tobacco products under the Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution Act 2003.

College authorities in Mumbai, meanwhile, lay the blame the BMC's apathy towards implementing the law.

"The implementing authority needs to be more serious. We have written several complaints to the BMC about this menace outside the college but to no use, the sale continues to flourish," said Manju Nichani, principal of KC College.

"The students don't smoke in colleges so we didn't think about it so seriously . But we get complaints that sale goes on outside but the offenders are really smart so it's difficult to catch them. Colleges can't do this on their own, the BMC should become more proactive," said Sangeeta Kher, principal of NM College.

Meanwhile right outside most of the schools and colleges in Mumbai is a cigarette vending shop, thriving while the implementing authorities pass the buck to each other.

THE ACT:

According to the Act, a public place is any place to which the public have access, whether as of right or not, and includes auditori ums, hospital buildings, health institutions, amusement cen tres, restaurants, public offices, court buildings, educational institutions, libraries, public conveyances and the like, which are visited by the general public but do not include open space

Rs 200: fine for individuals smoking in public in India

About Rs 4,000: fine for individuals smoking in public in the UK

About Rs 2 lakh: fine for premises breaking the law in the UK

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