Smoking ban... à la française

[Clair]

I went shopping in Aurillac yesterday and I was suddenly reminded of the start of the smoking ban in public places on 1st Feb: about 30 or 40 cigarettes butts were littering the  entrance to the Géant centre commercial. I guess they must have started to implement it early...

They have an open bar, more like a island really, right in the middle of the indoor area and it seems to always be surrounded by smoking husbands (I assume!) waiting for their wives to finish their shopping. Walking past to get to the supermarket entrance, I've often seen the waiter taking a drag on his ciggie before grabbing a sandwich for a customer...

In my days temping at the Body Shop headquarters in Littlehampton, long before any legislation, smoking was strictly not allowed in the buildings. Every lunchtime, you could see all the addicts (me included) huddled outside the doors with their ciggies in one hand, lighter in the other, trying to make the most of the last few minutes before having to return inside.

One day, Saint Anita visited and an edict was immediately issued: no smoking on the premises, whether indoors or outdoors... If you wanted to smoke, you could only do so inside your car, which was parked way out there, away from the buildings...

I stopped smoking about 15 years ago, gave up one day just like that, or more honestly, I should say I stopped buying cigarettes but carried on having the very occasional one, once in a while...  It's been ages since the last one... at least 3 years...

I don't think I'll have another.

[Lori]

Was just reading an article on CNN's website about France's new smoking ban.  The statement below was taken from that article.  I guess the recent campaign to try to stop people from smoking - warnings on street signs, warnings on the packs themselves, etc. - isn't working.

 

Overall, recent figures show the number of French smokers to be rising, especially among the young. Smokers now account for 32 percent of 15- to 75-year-olds, and almost one in two in the 18 to 25 age bracket.

Smoking is thought to kill 66,000 people in France each year, while passive smoking claims some 6,000 lives -- 1,000 of them non-smokers, the rest smokers who also breathe the cigarette smoke of others.

 

It is hard for me to understand why anyone would want to take up the habit (I'm referring to new smokers, not already addicted ones).  There is so much evidence of the health hazards, plus cigs cost a fortune here.  Could it be the "it won't ever happen to me" attitude?   What age do you have to be to buy cigarettes here in France? 

[Lori]

Clair - I just read your post.  I guess I should have posted my thread onto this post.  Can anyone move it here if they feel it is appropriate?

[Lori]

Thanks very much !

 

[jxedwards]

I am not in France at the moment however reading on the Beeb website that today the 'partial'' smoking ban takes effect in France. Are the French 'obeying' this new law or not?

John

[mmaddock]

As I understand it, there has officially been a ban on smoking in France in public (including bars etc. ) for quite a while, tho it has been completely ignored - but now they are going to start enforcing it.  I can't remember where I read the article, I think it might have been on the BBC news site somewhere.

Matt

[Bugsy]

Called into our local bar this morning for a coffee and it's smoking as usual. The owner said that the ban applies to Hospitals, Public places etc now, but Bars and Cafes have until the end of the year to "get their act together"......................................[:)]

[ali-cat]

& to think it's one of the reasons we moved to France!!  We'll have to move again, now!! [Www]

[Bugsy]

I don't think you'll have to move Ali-C, France already had a ban in place, with a 1€ fine for breaking it...............[:D]

[Clair]

[quote user="mmaddock"]As I understand it, there has officially been a ban on smoking in France in public (including bars etc. ) for quite a while, tho it has been completely ignored - but now they are going to start enforcing it.  I can't remember where I read the article, I think it might have been on the BBC news site somewhere. Matt [/quote]

The previous law (loi Evin 1991) states, among other things:

[quote]Art. 16. - Il est interdit de fumer dans les lieux affectés à

un usage collectif, notamment scolaire, et dans les moyens de transport

collectif, sauf dans les emplacements expressément réservés aux fumeurs.[/quote]

In other words, smoking was only allowed in smoking areas.

The way the vast majority chose to interpret the article was to declare a zone as 'non-smoking' and allow smoking everywhere else.

The same loi Evin put  limit on tar content, stopped advertising and made it compulsory to have health warnings on all packets.

As for cafés and restaurants, they have until 01/01/2008 to comply:

[quote]l'interdiction de fumer ne s'applique qu'au 1er janvier 2008 dans les

cafés, casinos, cercles de jeu, débits de tabac, discothèques, hôtels

et restaurants.[/quote]