The reality is
different, though. True, the French smoke a bit more than Americans, but we
smoke somewhat less than some of our European neighbors, like the Austrians,
the Greeks and the Dutch.
What is more
notable is that the French have lagged in the Wests antismoking fight.
But things are
changing here. Last year, the government decided to act. Prohibiting smoking in
public places shows resolve to the voters, after all, a majority of whom favor
banning cigarettes altogether.
Banishing tobacco
is easier than solving the problems of the slums or reducing unemployment among
young people. In October 2006, six months before this years presidential
elections, Prime Minister Dominque de Villepin issued a decree that barred smoking in public
places (government offices, schools, hospitals and the like), starting in
February 2007. Cafes, restaurants and nightclubs received a reprieve until Jan.
2, 2008. So, beginning on Wednesday, smoking will now be allowed only in sealed
rooms that meet strict standards.
Sixteen years
ago,
Will the new
prohibition be respected? Is this the end of the traditional morning cigarette
savored with coffee at the bistro? "Well
see," some say, ready to bet this ban will have no more effect than the
first.
The state, after
all, profits from a laissez-faire attitude toward smoking.
These taxes bring
in more than 10 billion euros a year. Isnt it
shocking to earn money by taxing what is properly called a drug? The government
responds by saying that the money subsidizes the social cost of tobacco, a
plague that causes about 65,000 deaths a year in
But others fear
that smoking in public will become increasingly difficult. Although a
prohibition on smoking in bars and restaurants will be harder to enforce, the
ban in hospitals, schools and other places that began in February has been
widely obeyed. Our Italian
neighbors are also very punctilious
about respecting their antismoking legislation, which went into effect in
January 2005.
When he goes
to
For simple
economic reasons, the French smoker could rapidly become an endangered species.
French cigarettes are among the most expensive in
But some will
always resist the antismoking campaign and manage to buy cheaper cigarettes.
The black market is flourishing, and cartons of cigarettes bought on the cheap
across the border circulate widely. On my trips to other countries, I have
begun the custom of bringing back a carton for one or another of my smoking
friends.
Another blow
to the enemy!" is the ritual phrase that greets this gift. In
Resisting the
dictatorship of health and the dictates of hygienic standards: vive la liberti of smoking! And everyone knows that in