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| SMOKING BAN TRIMMED IN GERMANY |
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Page 1 of 2  Plus: Troya to be distributed by Altadis U.S.A.Los Angeles, August 4 – For once, a win for smokers, this time in Germany. The German Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe overturned, by a 6-3 vote, parts of the smoking bans in the southwestern state of Baden-Wurttemberg and in the Berlin area, ruling that small bars and pubs must be allowed to permit smoking because the ban “seriously interfered” with their businesses and put them at risk. The German Federal Statistics Office study of the impact of smoking bans between October to December of 2007 showed that in German states where a ban was imposed, bars and clubs had a 14% drop in earnings. In comparison to those states in which no ban was in force, sales were down in the smoking-ban-in-place establishments by only 5.3%, a significant difference. According to Federal statistics, about 30 percent of Germans are smokers. The suit was brought by two one-room pubs in Berlin and one in Baden-Wurttemberg, who complained that their small size made it impossible to create a separate smoking room, as allowed under the smoking bans in their states. The court noted that smaller establishments, which cannot create physically separate areas for smokers as could larger restaurants and clubs, are placed at a considerable disadvantage by the existing ban language. Presiding Judge Hans-Jurgen Papier ordered the smoking ban rules to be restated by the end of 2009 and until then, smoking would be allowed in a limited fashion: The ruling could impact bans in up to 12 of the 14 other German states and four – Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse and Mecklenburg-West Pomerania – issued announcements that smoking in locations specified in the ruling would be allowed. The Bavarian rule, which has an absolute smoking ban, does not need to be changed since it does not put small pub owners at a disadvantage against larger facilities . . . but allowed smoking in beer tents to ensure that Oktoberfest visitors won’t be impeded. “I am satisfied all around,” said Sylvia Thymm, the owner of Doors, one of the Berlin-based plaintiffs. “My business nearly failed because most of my patrons smoke,” she told reporters. “Tonight we’re going to celebrate.” She won’t be the only one. The German hotel and restaurant federation said that between 32-43% of all 187,000 premises in the country that serve food and drink are one-room establishments! A spokesman for the Federal Association of German Hotels and Restaurants said that while people seemed to “value the smoking ban” while eating, but pubs, bars and clubs were hard-hit by bans. One note: the court left open the option for individual states to completely ban smoking in public establishments and all workplaces, with no exceptions at all. "A general smoking ban in restaurants and taverns would have more protection under the constitution than the right to practice one's profession as a barkeeper or the freedom to smoke," Papier said. |
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Did you know?
“Csonka cigars are named for the Hall of Fame fullback of the Miami Dolphins, Larry Csonka.
