Julio Godoy
BERLIN, Aug 7 2008 (IPS) – The decision by a German constitutional court against a partial ban on smoking has led to calls for a new nationwide ban.
The court ruled last week that the present ban violates the rights of small bar owners who cannot build separate rooms for smokers.
The court ordered lawmakers to amend the ban by the end of next year. In the meantime, the court ruled that it will not apply to bars with less than 75 square metres of space.
The present ban was passed last year by the federal states after the central government said it had no national jurisdiction in health matters. The federal states banned smoking in closed public buildings, schools, universities, hospitals, railway stations and airports, and also in bars, restaurants and discotheques.
But the law allowed for smoking in separate rooms within the facilities. The partial prohibition came in the face of evidence that passive smoking kills more than 14,000 people every year in Germany.
The ruling is a partial victory for the tobacco industry, but it might now force lawmakers to finally pass a nationwide and absolute ban on smoking in buildings and public areas.
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A study by the Centre for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California says the German tobacco industry has been successful in preventing the translation of knowledge of the dangers of second-hand smoke into effective public health policy through a carefully planned collaboration with scientists and policymakers, and a sophisticated public relations programme which it initiated in the 1970 s and has been quietly running ever since.
Dagmar Schipanski, president of the German Anti-Cancer Association, told IPS earlier that the government cannot claim seriously that it has no jurisdiction in matters protecting public health against dangerous diseases such as cancer. It is a proven fact that passive smoking increase lung cancer risks. Therefore, a nationwide ban on smoking is necessary at all places such as public buildings and restaurants and discotheques.
The influence of the tobacco industry is still evident. The German Industrial Union of Food and Catering (BGN, after its German name), a cooperative of drinks producers and hospitality facilities owners, which cooperates closely with the tobacco industry, has released a paper arguing that the scientific evidence linking second-hand smoking with heart and respiratory diseases does not add up.
The paper released Jun. 30 says only two in 100,000 people working in hospitality facilities develop lung cancer.
The paper drew strong criticism. If you follow the BGN logic and manipulation of statistics, you can conclude that smoking actually protects from cancer, Dietmar Jazbinek, health correspondent with the daily newspaper Die Sueddeutsche Zeitung told IPS.
Germany is among the last countries in Europe that has failed to pass a nationwide ban on smoking in public places. In Britain, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the Scandinavian countries, smoking in closed public places, including restaurants, bars, and discotheques is banned.
