A good thing. There will be some blowback about this, interestingly enough from cafe and restaurant owners who feel (rightly) that it will hit them in the cash register, but in the latest polls over 70% of the people felt that it was time, so it's time.
What I'm wondering is whether there are loopholes, such as I've seen in California and recently in Dublin. It turns out that in both those places, although smoking is banned in restaurants and bars, that only covers areas under the *roof* of the building. So what happens is that establishments put tables and chairs in the adjoining alleyway or the area formerly used for garbage bins, and get to call it a "smoking area." It turns into a real windfall for the few establishments that can do this, because all those who haven't given up smoking flock to the place. That said, it's really going to change the French cityscape. Smoking and smoking in cafes is so much a part of the French mythos that it's going to cause a lot of smokers to go through a *bunch* of changes. Not as many changes as dying, however... And speaking of the French and smoking, click this link and then scroll to the bottom of the page to see a recent photo of Jean Paul Belmondo at 73. The dude's had some health problems in recent years, but has hit the gym to combat them, and to my eye he looks *really* good for 73, and for the man who almost single- handedly formed the link in film buffs' minds between French men and the cigarette dangling from their lips. http://tinyurl.com/jnjw2 --- In [email protected], "shempmcgurk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > France to impose smoking ban from 2007 > Sun Oct 8, 2006 1:47pm ET > Health News > > "We have decided to ban smoking in public places from February 1, > 2007," he told RTL radio and LCI television. > > He added that bar-tabacs, discos and other such places would have > until January 1, 2008 at the latest to comply with the rules. > > Public places include stations, museums, government offices and > shops but not in the streets or private places such as houses or > hotel rooms. > > > Villepin added the state would take charge of one-third of the costs > of anti-smoking treatments, such as a patch. > > "That would represent the first month of treatment," he said. > > In a report presented on Wednesday, several parliamentarians called > for a total ban from September 1, 2007 at the latest, without > exception. But a smoking ban will cause problems for the many > tobacco shops in France. > > Villepin declined to comment on the impact it would have on > government tax revenues, saying that public health considerations > outweighed any such fiscal impact. > > In the report, the parliamentarians said that each year between > 2,500 and 5,800 people died of the consequences of passive smoking > -- inhaling the smoke of smokers. Some 66,000 smokers die each year. > Continued... > > © Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
