Tue, Aug 12, 2003 page7

• New Euro laws put smokers under pressure

  RIGHT TO LIGHT UP Ireland is ready to pass a new law that will kill off smoking in bars while other EU countries are stepping up the ante

  • DUBLIN
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  At The Duke pub, just off busy Grafton Street in the heart of this jovial city, smoke shimmies through the air as customers indulge in a cherished but seemingly doomed ritual -- a sip from a pint, a drag on a cigarette, a sip, a drag.

  On Jan. 1, Ireland is expected to become the first European country to ban smoking in pubs. The move is so bold and contentious in a country so devoted to pub culture that few in Europe, and even fewer in Ireland, believe it will succeed. Customers will be asked to step outside to light up; pub owners, most of whom oppose the ban, will risk prosecution if they fail to comply.

  "It's a bad idea," said David Turner, the bartender at the Duke. "Cigarettes and alcohol are synonymous, at least in Irish culture."

  It is a radical assault on smoking, especially for a European nation, but Ireland is not the only place it is happening. In a sign that the antitobacco movement is gaining ground in Western Europe, where smoking is as much a statement as a personal habit, a number of countries are passing strict laws to battle it.

  "There is momentum on this issue," said Tom Power, the chief executive officer of the Office of Tobacco Control in Ireland, an independent government agency.

  Although Europe still lags far behind the US in persuading people to give up the habit or to bypass it altogether, governments are beginning to address the hazards and costs of smoking more aggressively than ever.

  Two other countries -- Norway and the Netherlands -- have approved prohibitions on smoking in bars and restaurants. Norway's will take effect in the spring; the Netherlands, which is in a furor over the law, will put its ban in place in 2005.

  Some countries, including nicotine-loving France, have sharply increased taxes on tobacco in the past year, a move that hurts tobacco sales and fattens treasuries at the same time.

  France is also close to approving a law that would stiffen penalties on selling cigarettes to minors by year's end. It has even started an American-style lawsuit against tobacco companies. A local state-run insurance fund in St. Nazaire, in western France, is now in court after filing a lawsuit against four tobacco companies, the first action of its kind by a public authority in France. The fund is seeking to recoup the US$37.8 million it has spent to treat smoking-related illnesses.

  Even Greece, with one of the highest smoking rates in Europe, is expected to extend restrictions on smoking next year, lest athletes at the Summer Olympics be forced to wade past noxious clouds on their way to events.

  In some respects, Europe is already tougher on tobacco than the US.

  All over Western Europe, black-and-white warnings -- required by a European Union law -- have cropped up this year on cigarette packs. The blunt messages, which cover 30 percent to 40 percent of the package, read, "Smoking Kills" or "Smoking May Cause a Slow and Painful Death."

  The EU, led by David Byrne, its health commissioner, passed a law in December banning tobacco advertising from radio, television and print by July 2005, something that several European countries have already done. Britain carried out its ban earlier this year. The law also outlaws tobacco sponsorship of sporting events, like Formula One racing, beginning in 2005.

  "Nonsmokers are becoming more aware of their rights," said Dr. Fenton Howell, the spokesman for Action on Smoking and Health in Ireland. "They are articulating that much more and we are seeing changes."

  Tobacco companies are tracking many of the initiatives in Western Europe, and in some cases taking governments to court. But they do not seem worried about European sales.

  British American Tobacco, the world's second-largest tobacco company, recently announced it was buying Ente Tabacchi Italiani, Italy's state-owned tobacco company, for an estimated high bid of US$2.6 billion.

  "I think some fundamentals don't change," said Dr. Chris Proctor, director of science and regulation for British American Tobacco. "And those are that there are a lot of people who like cigarettes. Some governments are starting to forget that."

  Writing a law is one thing; enforcing it is something else entirely, Proctor said. Many European countries have antismoking laws that are widely ignored. France and Greece are supposed to provide no-smoking areas in restaurants, for example, but they almost never do.

  Proctor also noted that most Europeans object to anything smacking of what they consider American extremism. New York City's recent ban on smoking in bars and restaurants has prompted widespread ridicule in parts of Europe, especially Germany, a country with a complicated history regarding smoking laws. Hitler was virulently antismoking and banned public smoking.

  Antitobacco forces acknowledge an uphill battle in Europe, particularly in Central Europe, where old habits die hard, and in Southern Europe, where a rebellious seize-the-day attitude is more the norm. Smoking in front of "No Smoking" signs there is especially tantalizing.

  About one-third of European adults smoke. In some places, like Sweden and Britain, the percentage is lower. In others, like Greece, Hungary and Spain, it is higher. About a quarter of adult Americans were regular smokers in 2001.

  But antismoking groups said the fact remains that most Europeans do not smoke and that most dislike drinking, eating and working in smoky surroundings.

  "There has been a shift in public opinion," said Trudy Prins, executive director of Stivoro, a Dutch antitobacco group. "Politicians are never the trend setters."
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