Norway Bans Smoking in Bars, Hopes for Imitators

01 June 2004

OSLO (Reuters) - Norway followed Ireland to become the second nation to outlaw smoking in all bars and restaurants Tuesday with Oslo hoping the crackdowns will spur copycat bans around the globe.

"This is Norway in a nutshell, there's a law for everything," said Eldar Solberg, drinking coffee and smoking a cigarette in warm sunshine outside an Oslo bar. "Imagine how this will be in winter when there's snow in the street."

Since midnight, lighting up inside any bar, cafe, club or restaurant is illegal.

"This is a historic day," Health Minister Dagfinn Hoybraaten told Reuters. "We hope that this will inspire other nations to follow suit," he said, adding Sweden and New Zealand had passed similar laws and that Britain was discussing restrictions.

The law aims to protect waiters and other pub and restaurant staff from second-hand smoke blamed for causing cancer and heart and respiratory diseases. Smoking is already outlawed in workplaces from offices to railway stations.

U.S. states including Maine, Florida and California have similar bans, as do cities including New York and Boston. Ireland was the first nation to outlaw smoking in pubs and restaurants on March 29, with Norway now number two.

Hoybraaten said there had been no reports of disturbances from disgruntled smokers. NRK public radio said two people threw tomatoes toward parliament in a mini-protest.

Hoybraaten said there was little to back up bar and restaurant owners' worries that business would shrink. A New York study showed turnover was up 12 percent after a first year.

BANS POPULAR?

"We looked to New York and Ireland and found that their experiences were not terrifying," he said. "It's not political suicide to impose a smoking ban. The Irish minister has even become more popular since March."


The World Health Organization (news - web sites) (WHO) says tobacco kills 4.9 million people worldwide every year, or one every 6.5 seconds. About 26 percent of adults smoke in Norway, far above a WHO goal of a maximum 20 percent.

Opinion polls in Norway show broad acceptance of the law. Newspapers Tuesday were full of advice about how to quit, recommending right-handed people, for instance, to start holding cigarettes with their left hand.

Even so, the Finance Ministry forecasts tax revenues from tobacco will rise to 7.5 billion crowns ($1.12 billion) in 2004 from 6.7 billion in 2003, partly because taxes have gone up.

Norwegian health workers handed out thousands of bright-colored flowers to mark a fresher air. One nightclub auctioned its ash trays, getting up to 350 crowns each.

"I think the new law's okay," said Marte Iversen, 24, an Oslo shop worker having a cigarette break in the street. "I'd even resolved to stop smoking today. Honest."