The French, long known for their love of cigarettes, now have fewer places to light up. Next year, the ban will extend to restaurants and cafes.
Living in France is wonderful in so many ways – architecture, art, culture, meeting people from around the world – but there’s one aspect I haven’t embraced: smoking. Starting Feb. 1, smoking is banned in public places throughout France. I’m sure several of my cigarette-lovin’ French friends are going to have something to say about the ban, but all I have to say is “Yippee!”
Now, currently, this ban includes schools, workplaces (I can’t even imagine working in an office where people are allowed to smoke), hospitals (are you kidding?), airports and a few other “closed and covered” places. Next year, the ban will extend to restaurants and cafes, and take it from someone who lives in France, this will change things. Apparently, I’d gotten used to all the smoke floating in the air, but when an American friend came and visited, I thought she was going to ban us from going out because of all the smoke.
For the French, however, smoking seemed to be not only a right, but almost an obligation. One of the first French phrases I learned was “je ne fume pas,” meaning “I don’t smoke.”
In a front-page article giving tribute to the cigarette in Le Monde newspaper, writer Philippe Delerm offered his view on the ban. “A world is collapsing,” Delerm writes. “Those were good times. But nobody thought about the collateral damage.”
An estimated 15 million of the 60+ million people living in France smoke. France sees about 66,000 smoking-related deaths each year. About 175,000 agents have been engaged to enforce the ban through fines. Smokers will get an $88 fine, while employers who turn a blind eye will be fined $174.
Several other European countries, including Belgium, Britain, Ireland, Italy and Spain, have already banned smoking in public places.
All I can say is that it’s a breath of fresh air for us non-smokers.
