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from the all-those-in-favour,-please-cough dept.
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.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday February 16 2018, @07:31AM (6 children)
Me smoking my ciggies doesn't either. The Internet techs of the day don't allow one to download the smoke even if the one would want to. Just sayin'
(grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday February 16 2018, @08:04AM (5 children)
True, 'tis a long way from there, where you be, to here, where I be.
Not so far if you are the person smoking or who has just smoked where I am, however.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday February 16 2018, @09:56AM (4 children)
Ha! Here's an idea: send me the smokers and I'll keep them nearby, I'll send you the 90% or so of Melbourne who don't smoke for you to cherish them. Deal?
(grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Funny) by MostCynical on Friday February 16 2018, @10:16AM (1 child)
We don't have enough laneways or coffee shops to handle that many.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 3, Touché) by c0lo on Friday February 16 2018, @10:29AM
See what I have to put up with on a daily basis, then?
And you'd have the hearth to ask me to quit smoking?
(grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2, Funny) by nitehawk214 on Friday February 16 2018, @08:40PM (1 child)
I think a country already tried sending all of their undesirables to Australia.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Wednesday February 21 2018, @10:09PM
Obama made a VERY DUMB DEAL with Australia, I left it alone because I CAN'T STAND talking to Turnbull -- worst conversation ever. Now we're getting the WORST of their so-called refugees! But they're taking some of ours. Winning!