German Politicians In Favor of Anti-Smoking Initiatives [08/04-4]
Excerpts from: German Politicians Call for Public Smoking Ban
DW
World (Deutsche Welle) [08/03/03]
Around a third of all Germans smoke daily.
Germany has long been a paradise for tobacco friends, but now some politicians
are coming out in favor of stricter, American-style anti-smoking laws to protect
people against secondhand smoke.
Depending upon what side of the cigarette you’re on, Germany can either
be a nicotine nirvana, or a smoke-filled purgatory. That’s because unlike
in the United States and many European countries, German smokers still have
free reign in many public spaces.
But Germany’s reputation as a cigarette-friendly nation could soon change
if a new anti-smoking drive takes off. Marion Caspers-Merk, deputy health minister
in charge of the German government’s drug policy, on Sunday reportedly
said she wanted to soon take the first steps to better protect non-smokers.
Any new anti-smoking initiative would come on the heels of the government’s
recent decision to hike the price of a pack of cigarettes by a euro over the
next couple of years to help pay for health care costs. Taken together, many
German smokers could be forgiven for thinking the ruling center-left coalition
of Social Democrats and Greens were planning a coming anti-smoking crusade in
Germany.
Still, Capers-Merk call to further restrict smoking – including making
hospitals, schools and government buildings completely smoke free – was
positively received by some politicians from the conservative opposition. Bavarian
Health Minister Eberhard Sinner told the paper smoking was a “war against
good health, especially that of our children.”
Other politicians made no secret that they saw the strict no smoking policies
of the United States as the example Germany needed to follow. Werner Lensing,
a Christian Democrat member of the North-Rhine Westphalia state parliament,
urged for legislation modelled on American laws forbidding smoking in public
places.
“I’m for a total smoking ban everywhere where non-smokers can’t
avoid cigarette smoke – namely pubs and also in office buildings,”
Lensing told Bild.
“The Americans are pioneers in this area. The laws really need to be drastically
tightened up over here too,” Schulz said.
This information is presented as a public service by:
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
2013 H Street NW / Washington, DC 20006 / (202) 659-4310
A national nonprofit, scientific and educational organization founded in 1967.
All donations are fully tax deductible.
Material on this page may be freely reproduced, distributed, and circulated
with attribution given to Action on Smoking and Health.
Dedicated to Mr. and Mrs. Warren Wells