Au revoir les fumeurs wrote:
>Smoking Ban Goes Into Effect in France
>Thursday February 1
>
>Smoking Ban Goes Into Effect in France, to the Chagrin of Many of
>Country's Smokers
>
>PARIS (AP) -- A ban on smoking in public spaces went into effect
>Thursday in France, prompting exasperation among many of the country's
>estimated 15 million smokers.
>
>The ban prohibits lighting up in workplaces, schools, airports,
>hospitals and other "closed and covered" public places. Bars, cafes
>and restaurants are exempt for the moment, but are also to go
>smoke-free next year.
>
>Many in France fear the ban may alter the way of life in a country
>known for its smoke-filled cafes, and some French smokers have decried
>it as attack on their personal freedoms.
>
>Barbara Laru, a saleswoman at a shop in Paris' mammoth Saint Lazare
>train station, called the ban "ridiculous."
>
>Laru -- who risked a 68 euros ($88) fine from one of the ban's 175,000
>enforcement agents by lighting up -- explained she had no choice but
>to break the law because leaving the station for a smoke took too
>long.
>
>"I can't take breaks all the time," she said. Ironically, Laru's work
>ethic could end up costing her employer: Under the ban, bosses who let
>smokers light up in the workplace risk fines of 135 euros ($174).
>
>The French government has said it will help smokers kick the habit by
>reimbursing up to 50 euros ($65) per person per year for stop-smoking
>aids. It also will allow companies to invest in strictly regulated
>smoking rooms inside the workplace.
>
>With the ban, France joins the ranks of Italy, Spain, Belgium, Britain
>and Ireland, which already have enacted broad anti-smoking laws.
Bravo! I'm going to eat some Freedom Fries to celebrate. |
