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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 Taibhsear on Friday February 16 2018, @04:03PM (3 children)
You can't get second hand diabetes or cardiovascular disease... No one says you can't smoke. You just can't do it where it would harm others that decided NOT to smoke. It's not rocket surgery.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday February 16 2018, @04:33PM (2 children)
Or, on the less authoritarian hand, you could simply not go somewhere when you know that there is going to be smoking allowed. You know, exactly like the majority of men don't go to male strip clubs because they aren't interested in seeing dong flopping all over the place.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 16 2018, @08:10PM (1 child)
Violating work safety laws, employees should not be required to breathe second hand smoke. Sorry but some authoritarian rules are necessary, like not polluting the environment or building industrial spaces in residential areas.
Anarchy is bad mmmkay?
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday February 16 2018, @11:22PM
As I explained above, you're twenty years late with that argument. Even if allowing smoking in your business were legalized again, nearly nobody would. Most people do not smoke anymore. If you have to spend an entire day shopping around for something to piss you off, it is not a valid concern.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.