Oxfordshire to Ban Outdoor Smoking

Oxfordshire is looking to become the first “smoke-free” county in England by the year 2025, with proposals to ban smoking in outdoor spaces.

The anti-smoker measures would bar people from smoking in outdoor dining areas and preventing businesses from providing workplace cigarette break areas.

To be officially considered “smoke-free” by the British government, less than five per cent of a county can be smokers.

Approximately 12 per cent of the county’s population smokes cigarettes, with people on the lower end of the economic ladder more likely to light up; therefore, the impact of such restrictions will most likely disproportionately impact the working-class and poor.

Oxfordshire’s public health director, Ansaf Azhar, said last week that the smoking restrictions are a part of the local government’s “long game” strategy to change the smoking culture.