Is this the end of the club smoking area?

Smoking on nights out and around uni should be banned, according to experts.

Your revision rollie outside the library could also be in jeopardy, after The Royal Society for Public Health (RPSH) released a report calling for smoking exclusion zones outside public areas.

The society thinks that by making it harder for people to smoke when they’re out it will encourage more to give up fags.

Duncan Stephenson, Director of External Affairs at RSPH, wants us to follow Australia’s crusade against smokers.

He said: “Where it’s an area where large numbers of people congregate it’s not about passive smoking but de-normalisation.

“We want designated smoking and non smoking outside areas in clubs and pubs where people go purely for a cigarette and don’t bring their drink.

“It could extend to outside libraries because by making smoking less convenient it will make the healthier choice easier.”

The average student spends just under £1 every week on cigarettes with Manchester and Leicester smoking the most in the UK spending nearer £1.50.

Shirley Cramer, RSPH Chief Executive, said: “This could ultimately save many lives.”

This comes eight years after smoking was made illegal inside pubs, clubs and public buildings which saw the amount of people smoking fall by 400,000 in the subsequent 12 months after the ban.

Not everyone agrees though. Boris Johnson, Mayor of London thinks telling people that they can’t smoke outside in public places “shades a little bit too far on the side of bossiness.”

The RSPH wants people to turn to safer nicotine fixes such as nicotine patches, e-cigarettes, and gum which it also thinks doctors should be working harder at encouraging people to use.

They also hate the word e-cigarette, and want you to call it a “nicotine stick” or “vaporiser” instead.

But Simon Clark, Director of the smoker’s lobby-group Forest, said: “Renaming e-cigarettes is a silly idea. It ignores the fact e-cigs are popular because they mimic the act of smoking.”

This same body of medical experts have additionally said that nicotine is no worse than caffeine so is our morning coffee in lectures also going to get banned?

Duncan added: “No definitely not, we’re not the fun police. Nicotine by itself is not harmful, but it makes you addicted to the associate substance which can be bad.”

It’s the tobacco, which contains gross chemicals, which is what is killing 100,000 people per year in the UK, not the caffeine. Your coffee is safe.

“We don’t want a new generation of smokers, smoking kills.

“As a former smoker myself I know how hard it is to quit. It’s important to remember that when you smoke it’s not freedom of choice because you’re addicted and dependent.”