Tobacco.org

COLEMAN: Down with public smoking! 

Before coming to Hamburg, I worked for two years in Bratislava where there was no such smoking ban. So it was a great relief to arrive in Germany and find that I could enjoy a restaurant meal without fear that my food might actually taste like cigarette butts.

In Hamburg, Berlin or any other city, we can easily predict what the great majority of bar/restaurant owners would decide, if given a choice, about smoking in their establishments. If they allowed smoking, they would earn more money not only from smokers frequenting their establishments but also from sales of cigarettes to those customers. The result of the vote can be predicted based on pure self-interest. . . .

So wake up, Germany! Let’s join the 21st century. The referendum we need is NOT one to “protect” the rights of nicotine addicts to smoke regardless of hazards to non-smokers. What we really need is a government-supported, organized effort to gather signatures on a petition to ban all public smoking. That’s right: If the nicotine addict chooses to smoke, let him/her do so inside the home, with windows closed to protect non-addicted neighbors. I seriously propose that anyone caught smoking anywhere in public should be arrested and fined for a first offense, should spend a night in jail for a second offense, and should serve a weekend in jail -- plus pay a fine -- for any offense thereafter. This would afford residents and tourists alike much greater “enjoyment of life” in the cities of Germany -- with its beautiful trees, canals, ports, and architecture -- but without the carpet of butts and the general stench of cigarettes that currently blight this wonderful country.

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