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Cutting Back on Smokers' Liberté
Tobacco vendors demonstrated in Paris last November against a law to ban smoking in public places, the first phase of which is due to take effect Thursday.
(By Michel Euler -- Associated Press)
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That view is based on experience. In 1991, France adopted the harshest anti-smoking laws in Europe, demanding, for instance, that restaurants create separate smoking and nonsmoking areas. But the law was never enforced, leading to the widespread belief that the new laws will be ignored or changed to avoid a complete ban in restaurants, bars and cafes.
Francis Attrazic, vice president of the hotel, bar and restaurant association representing about 80,000 French businesses, said that without such a compromise, the group's members expect to lose about 20 percent of their customers.
Shortly after opening Restaurant Christophe a year ago in Paris's Latin Quarter, chef and owner Christophe Philippe, 27, decided to make it a nonsmoking restaurant and hung a sign in the dining area explaining, "Smoking severely harms the scent of my dishes." He lost many customers, he said, but as a former smoker who had struggled to quit because of the smoke in restaurants where he worked, Philippe is committed to keeping a smoke-free environment.
"I'm in favor of the total ban, of course, but I doubt it's ever going to be implemented in France," he said. "The other restaurants have one year to adapt to the new law, but I'm sure they'll find a way to change it."
Outside the Sorbonne, Louis Jesu, 19, said he would continue smoking in public places regardless of the law. "It's a tradition in France. Everyone goes to bars and smokes. And everyone will defy this law."
"Some will smoke only to defy the law," said Michael Barbut, 20, laughing and puffing away.
Health Minister Xavier Bertrand said at a news conference last week that as many as 175,000 police officers, health and other inspectors would enforce the new law, fining violators about $98 and the owners of businesses where infractions occur about $195 for each person caught defying the ban. The French government will reimburse people who quit about $65 annually for gum, patches and other anti-smoking aids, he said.
Researcher Corinne Gavard contributed to this report.
