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Health Bill

As the noble Lord said, the amendment proposes that places where pipe smoking is part of an established ethnic or religious culture should be exempted. I do not support it for reasons that I will explain. In this Bill, we are looking to provide protection from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke, regardless of its source. That point is made perfectly clear in Clause 1, which we debated at some length in the previous Sitting. On the issue of pipes used for smoking, including those sometimes known as shisha and hookah pipes, the World Health Organisation has published research that suggests:"““Using a waterpipe to smoke tobacco poses a serious potential health hazard to smokers and others to the smoke emitted””," It also says that,"““secondhand smoke from waterpipes is a mixture of tobacco smoke in addition to smoke from the fuel, and therefore poses a serious health risk for non-smokers””." On this basis, the World Health Organisation issued the following specific advice:"““Water pipes should be prohibited in enclosed public places consistent with bans on cigarette and other forms of tobacco smoking””." I am not aware that there have been any specific representations from any cultural or ethnic groups about this issue, but I will check and write to the noble Lord. The legislation does not ban smoking of particular types of pipes or of any specific type of tobacco. It will simply ensure that, for health reasons, smoking, of any nature, does not take place in enclosed or substantially enclosed public places or workplaces.