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Austria: The "Ashtray of Europe"?

posted by janrinok on Friday February 16 2018, @05:07AM   
from the all-those-in-favour,-please-cough dept.

takyon writes:

Austria has one of the highest rates of smoking and youth smoking among high income countries, and that might not be changing anytime soon:

Many Western countries have banned smoking in bars and restaurants, but Austria is bucking that trend. Under a law passed in 2015, Austria was due to bring in a total ban this May, but now its new government of the conservatives and the far-right Freedom Party have scrapped the plans.

The move was spearheaded by the leader of the Freedom Party, Austria's Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache, himself a smoker, who told parliament last month that it was about freedom of choice. He said restaurants should be free to decide if they want to have smoking sections, where "a citizen has the possibility to decide perhaps to enjoy a cigarette or a pipe or a cigar with their coffee".

The move has horrified Austria's medical establishment. Dr Manfred Neuberger, professor emeritus at the Medical University of Vienna, says it is "a public health disaster".

"The decision is irresponsible. It was a victory for the tobacco industry. The new government made Austria into the ashtray of Europe."

Meanwhile, the country is considering buying more jet fighters, recruiting more police, defunding its public broadcaster, and examining its past.

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Original Submission

• Re:re Double Standard Re:re Double Standard (Score: 5, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Friday February 16 2018, @07:13AM (2 children)

  by maxwell demon (1608) on Friday February 16 2018, @07:13AM (#638725) Journal

  Why the double standard? Carbonated drinks have been linked to a rise in diabetes; taxes on the stuff are raised but they’re not banned. Fats are linked to cardiovascular disease but not “sin” tax applies much less a ban. Lack of exercise is linked to several types of disease but no government decrees one must exercise.

  I have never heard that one person drinking carbonated drinks caused other people getting diabetes.
  I have never heard that one person eating fat caused other people to develop cardioviscular disease.
  I have never heard that one person not exercising caused another person to get ill.

  Note that the smoking ban is only for places where others inhale the fumes you produce.

  --
  The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.

  Parent

  Starting Score:	1		point
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  Insightful=3, Total=3
  Extra 'Insightful' Modifier		0
  Karma-Bonus Modifier		+1
  Total Score:		5

• Re:re Double Standard (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 16 2018, @05:56PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 16 2018, @05:56PM (#638910)

  I have never seen evidence of one person eating fat that caused them to develop cardiovascular disease.

  Parent

• Re:re Double Standard (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 16 2018, @08:38PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 16 2018, @08:38PM (#639021)

  Parents who drink soda give soda to their kids! The soda must be banned!

  Parent