Nonsmoker protection
As Non smoking protection is referred to measures that are capable people who do not smoke , take effect from the dangers of tobacco smoke to protect ( passive smoking ).
background
Tobacco smoke is harmful not only to people who actively smoke tobacco, but also to anyone who inhales other people's smoke. Even the smoke of a single cigarette can damage the health of everyone in the same room. There is therefore a broad consensus about the harmfulness of passive smoking, from the medical societies to the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations and the German Cancer Research Center to the 161 countries that have acceded to the World Health Organization's framework convention on tobacco control, including Austria and Germany . After the tobacco industry had tried for decades to negate the effects of secondhand smoke on health through specially funded research, cigarette manufacturers (e.g. Philip Morris ) are now advocating smoking bans and measures to protect non-smokers. In the “Social Report 2006/07 - Responsibility in Dialog” by British American Tobacco it is shown that supporting the catering industry to set up smoking and non-smoking areas and to improve indoor air quality is an ethically and morally sound action in the sense of a corporate social Responsibility marketing.
When a smoker draws on a cigarette , the so-called mainstream smoke with a mixture of more than 12,000 substances, some of which have been classified as carcinogenic or possibly carcinogenic by the World Health Organization , arises at the tip of the embers at a temperature of around 950 degrees Celsius . Sidestream smoke, i.e. what escapes from a burning cigarette between two puffs (and what is inhaled during passive smoking) is even more toxic due to the lower combustion temperature, as the proportions of formaldehyde , ammonia and pyridine , for example , are much higher.
Passive smokers, according to the World Health Organization, have an up to 20 percent higher risk of lung cancer , the likelihood of heart disease is increased by passive smoking by 35 percent. According to estimates by the German Cancer Research Center, 3,300 people die each year in Germany as a result of passive smoking, most of them from heart attacks ; According to a study by the WHO in 2009, there are 600,000 people worldwide every year.
In many countries, regulations on the protection of non-smokers have been passed, but according to the WHO in 2009, more than 94 percent of humanity worldwide were still not protected from tobacco smoke by laws.
Protection of non-smokers in Germany
For a long time, the protection of non-smokers in Germany was little developed in international comparison. Since 2006, with the amendment of the Provisional Tobacco Act , the entry into force of the Act on Protection against the Dangers of Passive Smoking at the federal level (2007) and the passing of laws on the protection of non-smokers (2007) in all federal states. All federal institutions and the federal constitutional bodies, public transport and passenger train stations on public railways have been smoke-free since then. Smoking bans have also been issued at universities, schools, hospitals and authorities that fall within the competence of the federal states. The design of these country regulations is not uniform, so that there are serious regional differences with regard to the manifestation in everyday life.
Since a target agreement of the German Hotel and Restaurant Association and the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Affairs on the protection of non-smokers did not lead to sufficient success in terms of effective non-smoker protection, the states have also issued smoking bans in the catering trade as part of the state laws protecting against the dangers of passive smoking . The design of these state regulations is also not uniform.
At the workplace, according to the Workplace Ordinance - Section 5, the employer must "take the necessary measures so that the non-smoking employees in workplaces are effectively protected from the health hazards caused by tobacco smoke." In workplaces open to the public, protective measures are only to be taken "as the nature of the Company and the type of employment allow it ”.
Social acceptance of measures to protect against the dangers of passive smoking is high. A study by the Allensbach Institute for Demoscopy in 2006 came to the result: “The vast majority of the population (81 percent) find a legally regulated smoking ban in public authorities to be correct and appropriate. A majority of 61 percent is also in favor of smoking banned in other public buildings such as train stations and airports. In view of a legally regulated smoking ban in pubs and restaurants, however, opinions differ. 47 percent of the population are in favor of such a ban, but 41 percent consider a smoking ban in restaurants to be unnecessary. ” In a new survey in February 2008, only 14 percent of the population were in favor of generally allowing smoking in restaurants. Other studies come to similar conclusions: For a ban on smoking in public buildings and restaurants by the polling institute polis / Usuma spoke in 2006 according to a survey for the focus of the German 76 percent. Surveys by GfK on behalf of the DKFZ and Infratest dimap on behalf of the Hessian State Office for Addiction Issues also showed that around 70 percent agreed to smoking bans in restaurants.
Effectiveness of nonsmoker protection
According to the DKFZ, there has been a demonstrable improvement in indoor air quality and thus a significant reduction in air pollution in various countries after non-smoker protection laws were introduced.
So sank z. In Norway, for example, the average proportion of nicotine in indoor air rose from 28.3 µg / m³ to 0.6 µg / m³ as a result of the introduction of non-smoker protection in restaurants. In Ireland, in the course of the enforcement of smoke-free gastronomy, a reduction in the proportion of benzene in indoor air from 18.8 µg / m³ to 3.7 µg / m³ was found within one year. Another Irish study shows an 83% decrease in nicotine in indoor air. In Spain there was even a 97% reduction in the proportion of nicotine in indoor air.
The studies carried out by the DKFZ in 2005, 2007 and 2009 on the situation in Germany also showed a significant reduction in particle concentrations in the indoor air of restaurants. Overall, the particle concentration in discos has decreased by 82%, in bars by 76%, in restaurants by 79% and in cafes by 71%.
Exceptions - such as smoking rooms - mean, however, that in 2009 the staff in partially smoke-free restaurants are still exposed to a particle concentration that is 5 to 11 times higher than employees in completely smoke-free restaurants.
Referendum "Non-smoker protection" in Bavaria
In 2008, the Bavarian CSU sole government passed Germany's strictest law on the protection of non-smokers to date. After the CSU election failure in the state elections in 2008 , the ban was relaxed again by the new CSU-FDP coalition government under Horst Seehofer on August 1, 2009.
In the referendum "For real non-smoker protection!" , A broad, cross-party health policy alliance called for the reintroduction of consistent non-smoker protection. With the signatures of 1,298,746 people, the required ten percent threshold was passed (13.9 percent). The Bavarian state parliament rejected the bill with a majority of the CSU and FDP . On July 4, 2010, the Bavarian population decided in a nationwide referendum on the referendum, which was accepted with 61.0 percent of the votes cast. The turnout was 37.7 percent.
In Bavaria, since August 1, 2010, tobacco smoking is no longer permitted in the interiors of restaurants of all kinds, discos and festival tents. The consumption of tobacco-free herbal cigarettes as well as tobacco-free water pipes with mineral Shiazo stones or dried fruits and electronic cigarettes are only allowed if nicotine-containing solutions are nebulized, as there is no tobacco-based combustion process. On the other hand, electronic cigarettes that contain tobacco or tobacco products fall under the prohibition catalog of the Health Protection Act.
Criticism of inadequate implementation of non-smoker protection
On World No Tobacco Day 2011, the German Cancer Aid , the German Cancer Research Center and the “Non-Smoking Action Alliance” of well-known health care organizations in the Federal Republic of Germany sharply criticized the fact that, since the WHO FCTC was signed in 2003, there has been far too little in Germany for non-smoker protection and against passive smoking was done. The organizations accused the 16 federal states of having different regulations and of being responsible for this "patchwork Germany". The protection of children is also a priority for the action alliance , as they are still exposed to the dangers of passive smoking, for example in cars, on playgrounds and at home.
Non-smoking protection in the federal states
With the warning "Smoking during pregnancy is physical harm to the unborn child", the Lower Saxony Ministry for Social Affairs, Health and Equality underlines the need for further action in the field of "passive smoking".
In the most populous federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the new law on the protection of non-smokers came into force on May 1, 2013. Smoking in pubs, restaurants, festival tents, closed sports stadiums and also on playgrounds was prohibited by law. Furthermore, the exemptions from the smoking ban for school premises, smoking rooms and smoking clubs have been lifted.
The regulation that smoking is allowed in separate and designated areas and often in festival tents applies in Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig- Holstein and Thuringia. In Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony, it is also allowed to smoke in owner-managed one-room restaurants without employees. In Berlin, Hamburg, Lower Saxony and Saxony, the addition applies that smoking is permitted in one-room restaurants that have a guest area of less than 75 square meters and primarily offer drinks if only people of legal age are allowed in and no hot meals are served. A total smoking ban for gastronomy applies in Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saarland.
The Donaustadion in Ulm has had a non-smoking block since the 1999/2000 season .
Constitutional limits of non-smoker protection
The consumption of tobacco products is considered socially customary in Germany. Smoking is covered by the protection of the fundamental right of general freedom of action . Laws that prohibit or restrict smoking are therefore in need of justification and must comply with the principle of proportionality , i.e. H. have a legitimate purpose, be necessary and appropriate.
The Federal Constitutional Court regards protection against the dangers of passive smoking as a legitimate purpose of the law. When assessing the necessity, however, the legislature has a lot of leeway. In contrast, parts of the literature expressly affirm the state's duty to protect non-smokers on the basis of their right to life and physical integrity. Depending on the situation, the general freedom of action of smokers may therefore be of secondary importance.
Electric cigarettes
The current political discussion questions whether the protection of non-smokers needs to be expanded. The (sometimes so called) "smokeless" cigarettes (since they do not burn tobacco and produce steam instead of smoke ) are often touted as being allowed in non-smoking areas, which is a fact. Consumption can only be prohibited through the domiciliary rights . Studies published in 2012 showed that the effects of the examined passive steam on the indoor air, when compared with traditional tobacco smoking, are hardly measurable. Furthermore, the passive vapor does not have the toxic and carcinogenic properties of passive smoke. The researchers identify the lack of combustion and the lack of sidestream smoke in the case of the electronic cigarette as reasons for the measured differences in air pollution. They come to the conclusion that "on the basis of the ARPA data on air pollution in cities, it can be said that breathing in a large city can be less healthy than being in the same room with an e-cigarette user."
Protection of non-smokers in Austria
Smoking in public buildings, official buildings, schools and the like has been a thing of the past since 1995. similar prohibited in Austria . The trains of the Austrian Federal Railways have been continuously smoke-free since September 1, 2007, and smoking is also generally prohibited at train stations.
An amendment to the Tobacco Act, which came into force on January 1, 2009, prohibited smoking in restaurants and at public events. There were, however, numerous exceptions to these regulations, such as one-room establishments under 50 m² (which could optionally be run as smoking or non-smoking premises) and separate smoking areas in larger restaurants.
After the success of a referendum in Bavaria, activists also tried to initiate a referendum in Austria for “no smoking in bars” and in public, closed rooms as general legislation. The group organized itself on Facebook and reached 106,000 members within four months. The deadline for declarations of support expired at the end of 2011. The minimum number of supporters ( quorum ) was not reached.
Due to massive enforcement deficits and the changed public opinion, a total ban was issued in 2015 for all rooms for the "production, processing, administration or consumption of food or beverages" as well as those "in catering establishments for all areas available to guests, with the exception of open spaces". For the first time, multi-purpose halls or multi-purpose rooms as well as non-stationary facilities ("especially festival tents") were expressly included, as well as "rooms in which clubs hold events, even without the intention of making a profit". This should prevent circumvention.
Lobbying, in particular by the Federal Chamber of Commerce, delayed the entry into force of this ban until May 2018. On March 22, 2018, however , the National Council decided to withdraw the planned smoking ban. Furthermore, a ban on the sale of cigarettes to under 18-year-olds was decided, which will apply from 2019, as well as a ban on smoking in vehicles if there is a person in them who has not yet reached the age of 18.
The 2015 version of the restricted smoking ban initially remained in force. Another non-smoking popular initiative that narrowly missed the self-imposed goal of 900,000 votes in October 2018 with 881,569 votes could not change that.
Only after the end of the Kurz I government was parliament able to put the planned total ban into effect. On July 2, 2019, the amendment drawn up in 2015 ( Federal Law Gazette I No. 101/2015 ) was taken up again and resolved again in the Austrian National Council, so that the smoking ban originally planned for 2018 now comes into force 18 months later than originally planned could. In the renewed vote, only the FPÖ spoke out against the introduction of the smoking ban. With the deletion of § 13a , the smoking ban has been in effect in full since November 1, 2019 in all public spaces in which drinks or food are produced, processed, administered or consumed and generally in restaurants and bars in all areas available to guests (cloakroom, sanitary facilities etc.)
In addition to these federal regulations, there are also relevant provisions at the state and municipal level. For example, smoking is prohibited in children's playgrounds in Vienna .
Protection of non-smokers in Switzerland
The Association of Public Transport (VöV) announced in November 2018 that from June 1, 2019, a general smoking ban will apply in all train stations in Switzerland, outside the smoking areas.
Smoker Discrimination
In response to far-reaching smoking bans and the hostile behavior of non-smokers, smokers have argued that they are now being discriminated against .
On October 3, 2013, a flash mob against smoking discrimination took place in Vienna .
See also
Web links
- Worldwide map of smoking and non-smoking restaurants ( Memento from December 21, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) on: opengastromap.org
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Danger to health from passive smoking - Germany must act. German Cancer Research Center Heidelberg, October 7, 2005, accessed on March 9, 2016 .
- ^ Tobacco Free Initiative. United Nations World Health Organization, accessed March 9, 2016 .
- ↑ A. Bornhäuser, J. McCarthy, S. Glantz: How the tobacco industry in Germany prevented legal regulations for protection against passive smoking by maintaining scientific and political respectability. (PDF; 966 kB) 2006.
- ^ J. Kuhn: Evidence in Conflicts of Interest: The example of passive smoking. (PDF; 49 kB) 2010.
- ↑ Th. Grüning, N. Schönfeld: Paid by the devil .... In: Deutsches Ärzteblatt. Vol. 104, 2007, p. 12.
- ^ Smoking & Health Issues. Philip Morris USA, accessed March 9, 2016 .
- ^ BAT - Social Report 2006/07 - Responsibility in Dialog
- ^ IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans: Volume 83 Tobacco Smoke and Involuntary Smoking. (PDF; 601 kB) IARC , 2004, accessed on March 9, 2016 (English, table on pages 1200 and 1201).
- ↑ a b Only 5.4% of world's population covered by comprehensive smoke-free laws. WHO, December 9, 2009, accessed March 9, 2016 .
- ↑ Target agreement for the protection of non-smokers by BMGS and DEHOGA. (No longer available online.) BMGS / DEHOGA / PolRed, archived from the original on March 6, 2016 ; accessed on March 9, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ See printed matter 14/4834. (PDF; 71 kB) Draft law by the state government: Law to improve non-smoker protection in North Rhine-Westphalia. State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia, August 13, 2007, accessed on March 9, 2016 (justification of the state laws to protect against the dangers of passive smoking): "This also applies to the restaurant sector, especially since the previous voluntary measures with the hotel and restaurant association are not effective Could achieve non-smoker protection "
- ↑ Smoking bans. (PDF) In: allensbacher reports No. 12/2006. Institut für Demoskopie Allensbach, 2006, accessed on March 9, 2016 (13 kb).
- ^ Health: Bavaria single-handedly against blue haze. In: Spiegel online. December 9, 2006, accessed March 9, 2016 .
- ↑ Smoke-free restaurants in Germany: More than two-thirds approval of the population. (PDF) DKFZ , March 20, 2007, accessed on March 9, 2016 (419 kb).
- ↑ Ellingsen et al .: Airborne exposure and biological monitoring of bar and restaurant workers before and after the introduction of a smoking ban. In: Journal of Environmental Monitoring . 8, 2006, pp. 362-368.
- ^ Goodman et al .: Effects of the Irish smoking ban on respiratory health of bar workers and air quality in Dublin pubs. In: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 175, 2007, pp. 840-845.
- ↑ Mulcahy et al: Secondhand smoke exposure and risk following the Irish smoking ban: an assesment of salivary cotinine concentrations in hotel workers and air nicotine levels in bars. In: Tobacco Control . 14, 2005, pp. 384-388.
- ^ German Cancer Research Center (Ed.): Non-smoking protection works - An inventory of international and German experiences. (PDF; 2.5 MB) Heidelberg 2010, pp. 21–28.
- ↑ Germany's strictest smoking ban. In: Focus online. December 12, 2007.
- ↑ Bavaria relax smoking ban. In: NTV. July 15, 2009.
- ↑ Interest group referendum for non-smoker protection (No longer available online.) Nichtraucherschutz-bayern.de, archived from the original on March 9, 2016 ; accessed on March 9, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Referendum on the protection of non-smokers in Bavaria on July 4, 2010. The Regional Returning Officer of the Free State of Bavaria, accessed on March 9, 2016 .
- ↑ State capital Munich District administration department - E-cigarette. (PDF; 65 kB) Accessed March 9, 2016 .
- ↑ Landratsamt Ansbach - Leaflet Smoking ban in restaurants (Bavaria). (PDF; 37 kB) (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on March 9, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Bavarian Administrative Court : (PDF; 72 kB) Decision "9 CE 10.2468" The tobacco-free smoking of water pipes (so-called shishas) in restaurants is not subject to the scope of the Bavarian Health Protection Act.
- ^ Declaration of protest on PK Deutsche Krebshilfe May 24, 2011, Berlin.
- ↑ Lower Saxony Ministry for Social Affairs, Health and Equality: Protect children and young people from passive smoking. .
- ↑ a b c OVG Lüneburg , DVBl 1989, 935, 936.
- ^ Marko Tartsch: Legal requirements for a federal law on tobacco prevention . Berlin 2009, p. 259.
- ↑ Bodo Pieroth , Bernhard Schlink : Basic rights. Constitutional Law II 24th Edition. Heidelberg 2008, Rn. 370
- ↑ a b Answer of the Federal Chancellor to a citizen's question .
- ↑ a b BVerfGE 121, 317 (350).
- ^ Marko Tartsch: Legal requirements for a federal law on tobacco prevention . Berlin 2009, p. 55 ff.
- ↑ State capital Munich District administration department - E-cigarette. (PDF; 65 kB) Accessed March 9, 2016 .
- ↑ Landratsamt Ansbach - Leaflet Smoking ban in restaurants (Bavaria). (PDF; 37 kB) (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on March 9, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Stefano Zauli Sajani et al .: Urban Air Pollution Monitoring and Correlation Properties between Fixed-Site Stations. (PDF; 484 kB).
- ↑ Data sheet - Testing the exhaled vapor of e-cigarettes: Wesseling Laboratorien.
- ↑ a b Popular initiative No smoking in pubs. (No longer available online.) Nichtraucheninlokalen.info, archived from the original on March 9, 2016 ; accessed on March 9, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Smoking ban - Strolz: "Ashamed of this profession". In: Courier . March 22, 2018, accessed March 23, 2018 .
- ↑ 881,569 signatures for anti-smoking referendums . October 8, 2018 ( oe24.at [accessed November 28, 2018]).
- ^ Gastro smoking ban from November 2019 fix Vienna.at on July 2, 2019
- ^ Ordinance of the Magistrate of the City of Vienna regarding the use of green spaces (Green Space Ordinance). Magistrate of the City of Vienna, July 10, 2008, accessed on March 9, 2016 .
- ↑ Erich Aschwanden: All Swiss train stations will be smoke-free. In: nzz.ch . November 23, 2018, accessed November 24, 2018 .
- ↑ z. B. Jörg Böckern: Smoker Annett Louisan: "You feel like an animal in the zoo". In: Spiegel online. November 24, 2008.
- ↑ ORF: Flashmob against smoking discrimination .
