Reaction of Europeans concerning the ban
January 1 was deadline for many tobacco users of EU states, as it was the date when smoking ban should have come into force. Shocking reactions spread over such countries as France, Portugal, Germany- states where veto begins on Jan 1.
Idiom "nanny state" expresses the "unneeded" care of state to its residents. "We are not young children who need to be told what we cannot do," told Anne Cicek, manager of the Bier Bar in East Berlin. Anne asseverated she will defy the rule, as people ought to decide by themselves what to do.
Ali, owner of Westend Pinte bar in Berlin, told that he would not let anyone stop him from smoking at his own business.
"I’ve been smoking 40 cigarettes a day since I was 12 - I can’t quit now," Ali said.
"The freedom to smoke in public was one of the several lasting achievements of 1848. That is over now," lamented the German conservative newspaper Die Welt.
"Of course neither the West nor democracy will founder with the smoking ban. But will anything really be gained for people’s well-being or their health?"
In France the ban was claimed as being source of infringement not only of personal liberty but also of the national culture.
Sociologist Henri Pierre Jeudy thinks of the ban as being "the end of an era" for France - and a danger for personal freedoms.
"Public health costs are being used to justify an ever more coercive control over our private lives," he said. Such affirmations as "an unhealthy mistake" and "alcohol and tobacco have traditionally been used as weapons against stress," Henri enforces his assertion about banning lightening up.
"Their use, and sometimes abuse, has probably prevented many a collective revolt. Will banning them spark new rebellions?"
Even doctors express their negative attitude towards the "nanny" manner of government. Doctor Micheline Benatar said about ban as the first step toward a "totalitarian society".
"Life kills, Drinking kills, Eating badly kills too," she wrote.
"How long will the law continue to allow menus ’a la carte’ in restaurants and cafes? When will it start to impose low-fat menus - for our own good... to guarantee stable blood pressure, low blood sugar and cholesterol?"
"True, passive smoking is a public health concern. But is it not worse to start a car engine than to light up a cigarette?"
