SUBMISSION FROM MRS HELEN MITCHELL

I know that the closing date for submissions related to Stewart Maxwell's backbench bill to ban smoking in places where food is served is Friday 23rd April and I would.

wish to support this ban. Not only in public places where food is served but in public places. .

I often go to WeIlgate-Centre in Dundee and if I sit down, pass the open-air cafes I am very aware of the smoky atmosphere. I have suffered a heart-attack in the past, am a non-smoker yet find that if I stop to have a seat, which I do frequently, people sit beside me to "have a cigarette' and I have to move. I can't bear to breathe in the smoke and wonder what it is doing to my health. I worry about the effects of smoking on smokers but more am very concerned about passive smoking.

My grandson was recently invited to a party in-a hall and although be loved every minute of it when he came out he was coughing, sneezing and his clothes were smoky. Were the people at the party smoking? NO they were not. It was smoke "left over' from a celebration the night before. The mother of the child holding the party was concerned when she went into the hall to set the party-up but what could she do? Cancel the party??

I would like to add my support to banning smoking in public places just as Ireland have done. America done it very successfully and we are always years and miles behind America - let's get on with it Independent Research from abroad has shown that a ban is very good for business, Latest innovation from New York which introduced a ban a year ago shows that tax revenues and employment have risen in the Hospitality Industry so the fears that a ban would harm business is unfounded. Are smokers or the tobacco industry feeding US these unfounded fears and scare stories??

I would welcome your comments.