• English Site
• > SPIEGEL Blog

Adieu Gauloises

France Bans Smoking in Public

Smoky Parisian cafés will soon be nothing but a fond memory. As of Thursday, smoking is banned in public places in France and in a year, the blue haze will disappear from cafés and restaurants as well. C'est la vie.

For all the jokes about the rudeness of Parisiens, it's hard to deny that they know how to enjoy life. What, after all, could be more French than strolling into a café, ordering up a café au lait, lighting up a Gauloises and immersing oneself in a Camus novel?

Soon, however, part of that image will be gone forever. As of Thursday, smoking will no longer be allowed in most public buildings in France, including workplaces, schools, airports, hospitals and other "closed and covered" public places. In 2008, cigarettes will likewise be banned from cafes and restaurants.

As in New York, Italy, Spain, and other countries in Europe which have already prohibited smoking in public, the only place left for the French to smoke will be the decidedly unromantic sidewalk. The only smokers exempt from the ban are prisoners smoking in their cells, those living in retirement homes and hotel guests.

"We have the means to hand out penalties as early as (Thursday) if indeed there are holdouts, but I am resolutely optimistic," said French Health Minister Xavier Bertrand on French radio Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. "This is a striking revolution in society."

Some 175,000 agents will be out and about to enforce the ban. Anyone engaged in prohibited puffing will be asked to fork out €68 ($88) each, while employers who look the other way will be on the hook for €135. France is hoping to cut down on the some 66,000 annual smoking deaths in the country. Belgium, Scotland and Ireland have likewise introduced a smoking ban, and England, Wales and Northern Ireland all plan to introduce bans later this year.

In Germany, momentum towards a comprehensive Verbot has slowed with the federal government handing responsibility to the states. But on Wednesday, the German weekly Die Zeit reported that Social Democrat parliamentarian Lothar Binding wants to revive the discussion. Chancellor Angela Merkel has also said she wants a uniform ruling on smoking in Germany.

In France, there was little panic ahead of the ban. Pharmacies told AP that they hadn't experienced a run on nicotine patches or other aids to quit smoking. The government is offering up to €50 per year to those who require assistance to quit smoking.

The ban began on the same day that scientists writing in the American Journal of Public Health said that high levels of second-hand smoke in the workplace can double a non-smoker's risk of lung cancer, and that moderate levels over a long period of time leads to a 50 percent jump in risk. The study, led by Leslie Stayner of the University of Illinois at Chicago, was a combination of 22 other studies conducted in countries around the world.

cgh/ap/reuters