Ireland Snuffs Out Smoking in Workplaces

Ireland's new anti-smoking laws -- the toughest in Europe -- took effect on Sunday at midnight, shortly after the nation's 10,000 pubs closed, and smokers enjoyed a last, wistful cigarette with their drink.

Now, anyone caught smoking illegally in pubs, restaurants, and other workplaces such as offices, hospitals and universities, will face a fine of €3,000 ($3,650).

The only workplaces exempted from the ban are those that double as residences, such as hotel rooms, prisons, nursing homes, psychiatric hospitals.

Pub and restaurant owners fear a loss of business from the ban, and complain that it will be impossible to enforce. Some publicans are trying to accommodate their smoking customers by setting up heated outdoor areas with ashtrays. But others say they won't try to enforce the ban, even though they've been warned that they could compromise their liquor licenses if they're found not to be making any effort to ensure a smoke-free premises.

New York considers smoking ban a success

Ireland's wide-reaching ban is similar to those imposed in many U.S. cities to protect people from the dangers of second-hand smoke. New York City released a study on Monday reviewing the impact of its smoking ban, which was enforced a year ago.

Since then, according to city officials, New York's bars and restaurants have prospered, with increases in jobs, liquor licenses, and business tax payments. But critics of the study say the city hasn't produced separate results for bars and restaurants, and argue that the bar and night-club industry, which catered to a smoker-heavy clientele, have suffered more from the ban.

In Ireland, supporters of the ban say pubs and restaurants will finally be able to attract new customers who, in the past, may have been put off by the smoky environment.

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who is both a non-smoker and a pub-goer, pointed to a recent survey that showed three out of four people who visited a bar in the past two weeks were non-smokers. Several other opinion polls taken in the past year indicate that most Irish adults (30 percent of whom smoke) support the government's crackdown on smoking in public places.

"Most people have made up their minds on the issue and rightly expect that government will take the steps necessary to deal with the problem," Ahern said. "Health and quality of life issues are important to people in their place of work."

Ireland's health minister, Micheal Martin, who spearheaded the initiative, said he expects it will take between six to eight weeks for people to adjust to the ban. His target is 90 percent compliance within a year.

Test case for Europe

Ireland's ban is being viewed as test case for rest of Europe. European Union officials, who have been considering an EU-wide ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, will be watching to see if other countries follow Ireland's lead. Sweden has already said it intends to ban smoking in restaurants and bars starting in 2005.

Currently, the only other EU country with strict anti-smoking legislation in the workplace is the Netherlands. There, bans on smoking in places such as stairs, hallways, conference rooms, cafeterias and toilets have made it next to impossible for workers to take a cigarette break. But the ban hasn't yet been extended to include hotels, bars, restaurants.

Germany, which has one of the highest rates of smokers along with Spain and Greece, has been criticized for not doing enough to combat nicotine addiction. EU Health Commissioner David Byrnes says the government is too easy-going, considering that an average of 100,000 Germans die of smoking-related diseases each year, and that the number of smokers remains constant, with more and more young people picking up the habit.