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Dateline: 25th April, 2006
Onstage Smoking May Be Exempt from Ban The Department of Health is considering the possibility of allowing smoking onstage and on film or television where it is an integral part of the character being portrayed. A spokeman for the department said, "Details of the exemption will be set out in the regulations which will be consulted on over the summer. We will be consulting with the theatre industry on what they consider integral to the plot." The proposed ban - which is due to come into effect in England next summer - bans all smoking in enclosed public spaces, including the workplace, but there had been protests that it would be impossible to portray people such as Winston Churchill without his trademark cigar or Joanne Lumley's Absolutely Fabulous character Patsy without her cigarettes. Smoking, it is argued, is an integral part of the plays of Noël Coward. A spokesman for Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) said the organisation would not be opposing the exemption: "What we want to see is a complete ban on smoking in enclosed work places so any exceptions should be very tightly drawn. If a stage hand wants to have a smoke he should go outside to do it like everybody else." Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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