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Austria: The "Ashtray of Europe"?

posted by janrinok on Friday February 16 2018, @05:07AM   Printer-friendly
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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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday February 16 2018, @07:25AM (2 children)

    by c0lo (156) on Friday February 16 2018, @07:25AM (#638732) Journal

    and to tax them largely in proportion to the health care costs that are attributed to smoking

    My experience tells me there's no relation between the health care cost of smoking and the excise the Australian govt imposes on tobacco. If any, there seems to be an actual inverse correlation: the less Australians smoke, the higher the excises.

    More likely, the direct relation between the ciggies taxes is with the level of desperation of the govt of the day to reduce the budget deficit.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 16 2018, @10:03AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 16 2018, @10:03AM (#638759)

    They say that they use the proceeds of the ciggy tax to fund antismoking campaigns and support the additional load smoking adds to the public health system

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday February 16 2018, @10:16AM

      by c0lo (156) on Friday February 16 2018, @10:16AM (#638763) Journal

      They say that they use the proceeds of the ciggy tax to fund antismoking campaigns and support the additional load smoking adds to the public health system

      LMFAO... That's bullshit and I know it. [youtube.com]

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