France to ban public smoking
2006-10-08 20:02
Paris - France will ban smoking in most
public places from February 1 2007 and also in bars, restaurants,
hotels and discotheques less than a year later, Prime Minister
Dominique de Villepin said on Sunday.
"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.
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.
About 66 000 smokers die each year.
Ireland imposed the world's first nationwide public smoking
ban in 2004.
Italy, Sweden, Scotland, Norway and Spain have
followed suit to varying degrees.