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The smoking ban in public places in England starts on the 1st July and is part of a government initiative to reduce smoking related diseases. These include respiratory, vascular and malignant conditions.

As optometrists, will we see any clinical effect from the ban?

Smoking has clearly been linked to cataracts. Studies have shown that smokers have up to a three-fold increase of developing nuclear sclerosis. Although potentially devastating to patients in developing countries where medical treatment is not so readily available, due to the advances in cataract surgery, many people in the western world with nuclear sclerosis undergo surgery and any degradation to the vision is eliminated.

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Online gaming has been incredibly popular, particularly the various forms of poker. That all changed in 2006 when the federal government effectively banned a majority of online gaming. The gaming industry is finally fighting back.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 was a shock too much of the gaming industry. Although it had been slowly moving through Congress, there was no indication that it would be passed into law without a significant amount of debate and lobbying. In a typically congressional move, all of the uproar about a ban was bypassed when the Act was attached as a rider to legislation detailing how to protect our ports from terrorist attacks! Terrorist and online poker – a natural mix if ever there was one!

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