HAVING won a major battle with the smoking ban in public places, anti-smoking groups have moved on to new frontiers.

The success of the ban on smoking in pubs, clubs and restaurants has been so complete that it can only add to the confidence of campaigners to do more.

Complaints from a few publicans and hardened smokers about the ban have all but been drowned out by thanks and praise from both non-smokers and less-committed smokers.

It is inconceivable now that the island should ever take a step back on this.

But the war goes on. The new battlefields are centred on three areas: smoking in the car, shop advertising and parents smoking at home.

The first two will, it seems clear, be dealt with at some stage by law. Again, the success and good publicity generated by the island’s early adoption of the ban on smoking in pubs and restaurants will surely embolden health campaigners to push for the island to be one of the first places to ban smoking in cars carrying children.

Shop advertising is already under threat from legislation and shopkeepers will soon be forced to keep cigarettes well out of the public eye.

The final target, however, will be harder to achieve. Many people would consider a legal ban on smoking at home to be a step too far, overly intrusive and unenforceable.

That battle will therefore have to be won in the minds of parents without legal back-up.

Yet it is a key target.

Statistics from Gasp show that one-third of young smokers at school have people smoking around them at home. That is more than double the overall ratio of smokers to non-smokers.

In short, the children of parents who light up in front of them at home are much more likely to smoke themselves.

Education would seem to be the only answer. Many parents will already step outside the back door for ‘a crafty one’ or put aside their cravings until after bedtime. Others will indulge on the drive to work or in breaks during the day.

The first target must therefore be those who don’t care if their children inhale their smoke.