Germany lags behind the Smoking ban

The Swedish government has tightened the rules on Smoking in public places. The goal: by 2025, the proportion of smokers in the population is expected to fall to under five per cent, virtually smoke-free. Entrance and outdoor areas of restaurants are now just as taboo as bus stops, station platforms, sports facilities and public playgrounds. And, although the Smoking rate is nine percent and thus fewer smokers live in Sweden than in other European countries.

The Situation is different in Germany. A survey commissioned by the European Commission, according to the Smoking rate in the Federal Republic of Germany at 25 percent. Pent-up demand Katrin Schaller, an expert on tobacco control, German cancer research center in Heidelberg (DKFZ) looks, especially in the interior of gastronomy. Staff and guests Smoke, be exposed to a very high level of tobacco smoke exposure. “This needs to be rectified as the first – on this occasion, however, it would be quite reasonable to consider the improved protection of non-smokers and public places to be involved,” says the expert.

Education and prohibition of Smoking on German playgrounds

Also, the Federal Ministry of health is by supporting any meaningful Initiative for Smoking prevention, according to a spokesman. First, the tobacco should but advertising ban to be enforced. “We focus on education and prevention,” he says. The DKFZ-expert sounds in favour of a Smoking ban.

Butts pile up in Germany, but also on public playgrounds in small villages and towns. Smoking bans, there are so far only in Brandenburg, Bremen, North Rhine-Westphalia and the Saarland. Berlin wants to join, what time is an appropriate ban on Smoking there is to be implemented, however, is unclear. An amendment of the law is for almost a year in Parliament.

The expert of the DKFZ, a smoke shooter ban on public playgrounds, passive Smoking and support the role model function of parents. But above all, it may help to avoid tipping of waste, especially for small children is dangerous. Nicotine is a very toxic Alkaloid. The ingestion of cigarette butts can lead to the Poison information centre, Erfurt, that is a poisoning with mild symptoms such as Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Heavy gradients are possible, but very rare.

However, a study of the DKFZ already showed ten years ago that Smoking bans are not without signs here of no effect: In Würzburg, probably due to a lack of information on playgrounds, in spite of Bayern far Smoking has been banned almost as many Butts found in Mannheim, where there is no such prohibition. In Heidelberg, where signs point out to the playgrounds to the municipal Smoking ban, the number of found cigarette butts at a third of the amount that was found in Würzburg.