It is getting surprisingly easy to light up in the Netherlands these days — cigarettes, that is.
Even as the Dutch government hardens its famous tolerance policy on marijuana, it is taking an increasingly relaxed stance toward tobacco, bucking the trend in nearly every other developed country and making the Dutch no-smoking drive take a hit.
Last year it exempted some bars from a smoking ban and now it has unveiled plans to reduce spending on anti-smoking advertising campaigns and end funding for health care programs to help people kick the habit. The Netherlands is also planning to cease funding its national center on tobacco control.
Photo: Huang Chien-hua, Liberty times
照片：自由時報記者黃建華
Nearly half of the nation’s bars and nightclubs flout the 2008 smoking ban but they are rarely punished.
At a recent press briefing, several Dutch politicians and experts blasted the government for backtracking on tobacco control policies. Opposition lawmaker Renske Leijten of the Socialist Party said Health Minister Edith Schippers was making the wrong decision to cut back on quit-smoking policies. “You can even wonder if she is minister of health or minister for the tobacco industry,” she said.
(AP)
最近在荷蘭要點菸意外地容易，但這裡指的卻是香菸。
正當荷蘭政府對大麻舉世聞名的寬容政策轉趨強硬之際，對於香菸的態度卻愈趨放鬆，與幾乎所有其他已開發國家背道而馳。
去年荷蘭政府准許部份酒吧可不受禁菸令限制，現在更公布將刪減反菸文宣廣告經費，以及停止資助協助癮君子戒菸的健保計畫。荷蘭政府還打算停止贊助國家菸害控制中心。
荷蘭全國將近半數的酒吧與夜總會都對二○○八年通過的禁菸令置之不理，但卻鮮少受罰。
最近在一場記者會上，數名荷蘭政治人物與專家都砲轟政府在菸害管制政策上大開倒車。反對派的社會黨議員萊騰表示，衛生部長史希波斯刪減戒菸政策的決定錯誤。她批評：「你甚至會懷疑，她到底是衛生部長，還是菸草業部長。」
（美聯社／翻譯：俞智敏）
Warning: Smoking can damage your health.
吸菸有害健康
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