 On
April 1, 2007, smoking will be banned in almost all indoor workplaces and indoor
’public places’ in Denmark. There will be an exemption for one-man offices,
designated smoking rooms and for bars and cafes of less than 40 square metres
that do not serve food. That was the result of a brief but heated parlamentary
debate, which culminated with a broad political agreement on November 20, 2006.
The law that comes into effect will
be much strictrer than the government proposal. Its proposal was for a ban on
smoking in publicly owned places, restrictions on smoking in restaurants and
bars, and freedom of choice for all privately owned workplaces. That all came to
nothing.
The antis were
yelping like whipped jackals about an Irish style ban, claiming that everbody in
Ireland loves the ban. So that was their target prohibition. It almost happened.
The current
agreement is valid until 2009, at which time it is to be 'evaluated'. With the
current level of frenzy and anti smoking funding, the few remaining exemptions
will fall like a house of cards in 2009.
For the little
smokers rights organization DaRy
it provided a first experience with the mass media hullaballoh. As chairman of
DaRy, I was interviewed for TV no less than three times in the space of one
week. Two appearances were live. What a debut!
The smokers in
Denmark lost a great battle, without drawing blood from the antis. The antis
roam almost almighty in my little home country.
My only
consolement is that I saw it coming more 2 ½ years ago. And I was right in my
prediction in my Forces piece
The Great Danish Smokeout that a total ban would not be in place until
earliest 2008. This prediction seems to have come true, since now it cannot be
in place until 2010.
English
language link at Copenhagen Post
http://www.cphpost.dk/get/99177.html
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