Dutch Tobacco Smoking Ban is in Effect

The smoking of tobacco in public places is increasingly frowned upon. As of yesterday, the Dutch have joined those who have banned the habit in cafes, restaurants, bars, movie theatres and on public transportation. Of course, the Dutch are a bit different than the other polities who have prohibited lighting up a ciggie because it is still legal in the Netherlands to smoke cannabis in its coffee houses, so long as it isn’t mixed with tobacco.

The BBC reports, “Some 30% of the Netherlands’ 16 million population are smokers - a higher rate than all other European Union countries except Spain, Greece and Germany.” The ban, therefore, has effects far greater in scope than elsewhere. If it gets people to quit, the improvement in health statistics will be greater. If it keeps people from going out for coffee or dinner, there will be a bigger decline in business.

Indeed, one hospitality industry study noted that more small businesses have been put on the market because of the ban. Owners either want to allow smoking if their patrons desire to smoke (the Dutch have an admirable libertarian streak) or they worry that they’ll lose money. Of course, to counter this study, the prohibitionists put out one saying more non-smokers will go out and spend.

As a general rule, this journal prefers that government not prohibit any activity wherein an individual only harms himself, while at the same time largely disapproving of that behavior. Tobacco, when chewed or snorted, falls into this category. When smoked, however, it becomes a problem because of the laws of gaseous diffusion. Party A smokes and Party B winds up breathing in the same stuff whether he wants to or not. So the ban is acceptable, but tobacco getting the hook rather than other things is a new twist

In the Netherlands, one can still visit one of 700 coffee shops, buy a maximum of 3 grams of hashish or marijuana, and enjoy coffee or fruit juice while smoking it. However, the habit in Europe of mixing tobacco with either (quite why a person would do that one could never tell) is now verbieden in public establishments. Fortunately, one can still do as one likes at home.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

Kensington Review Home