[Intl-tobacco] Netherlands: New tobacco regulations may go up in smoke

[Robert Weissman]

New tobacco regulations may go up in smoke
The Netherlands' anti-smoking campaigns have gained steam in recent
years, but are the Dutch ready to kick the habit? Not likely
by Cormac Mac Ruairi
Source: Expatica.com (nl), 2002-03-19, via tobacco.org
URL: http://www.expatica.com/index.asp?pad=2,66,&item_id=15410

As the senate considers a proposal to tighten the lax Dutch smoking
regulations, advocates and opponents agree the chamber is evenly
split, reflecting a nationwide ambivalence about smoking. 

The image of the healthy Dutch cyclist does not fit well with the
fact that around 33 percent of the adult population smoke. The
Netherlands is in the premier league of smoking when compared to the
US rate of 20 percent, 24 percent in France and 25 percent in
Belgium. 

Trudy Prins of the anti-smoking organisation Defacto says there has
been a slight decline in the percentage of smokers in the last year,
but in Europe only Spain, Greece and Germany have higher rates. A
third of all Dutch men and 29 percent of women smoke. 

The Dutch cancer association estimates that between now and 2015
about 17 percent of all male deaths and 11 percent of female deaths
will be due to smoking. In total 330,000 deaths in the Netherlands
over the next 15 years will be as a direct result of smoking, the
association says. 

Living in a cloud of second-hand smoke 

The Dutch emphasis on personal freedom and the tolerant attitude to
soft drugs are major factors in the reluctance to impose tougher
restrictions on smoking, says Fons Nijpels, chairman of the
non-smokers association Can. 

"Currently," he says, "it is up to the non-smoker to make a fuss to
vindicate the right to clean air in the workplace and other public
places." 

People don't want to be seen moralising but that often means
non-smokers have to put up with breathing in second-hand smoke.
"Smoking is condoned almost everywhere. Even on Dutch television,
you will sometimes see a guest or even members of the audience
smoking during a talk show," he says. 

Nijpels also finds it worrying that increasing numbers of young
people, and particularly young women, are taking up smoking. 

"More than 50 percent of the young people you see on any street are
smoking. We know 50 per cent of these will die from smoking related
diseases, half by the age of 50," he claims. 

The drive to quit 

Nijpels says the Netherlands could learn from numerous examples of
effective educational campaigns to alert people to the dangers of
smoking. 

For example, the British Medical Journal reported recently that the
UK has had the world's largest fall in premature deaths from lung
cancer thanks to the drive to help smokers give up. And following
combined legislation and education between 1988 and 1999, California
reduced cigarette use per capita by almost 50 percent, while it
declined by only 10-20 percent in the rest of the US. 

Among the EU states, France, Belgium, Ireland and the UK have taken
the lead in the fight against smoking, and perhaps now the
Netherlands is ready to follow. In June the parliament's health
committee voted in favour of a new regulations: 

· 
banning almost all tobacco ads · 
banning the sale of tobacco to children under 16 · 
banning smoking in the workplace, · 
increasing regulation of vending machines to prevent children
purchasing · 
restricting smoking in public places · 
providing for a structure of fines

The senate must ratify the changes and it is expected it will vote
on the matter in the near future. However, Nijpels doesn't expect an
easy victory. "It will be a close thing. You can never predict what
the senate will do, as members don't always follow the party line.
Nevertheless, the Christian Democrats (CDA) and the Liberals (VVD)
have a majority in the senate and they voted against the proposals
in the Lower House." 

The public is also ambivalent about smoking and to counter this,
Defacto, the cancer association and other health groups have
initiated a number of educational campaigns targeting young women
and the youth. A television ad campaign showing badly behaved young
people proclaiming 'but I don't smoke' is proving particularly
popular. 

Defacto says more action is needed to highlight the dangers of
passive smoking as lung cancer in at least 300 patients a year can
be linked to the effects of second-hand smoke. 

"We are also running a campaign to educate young mothers on the risk
to babies," says Prins. 

She is less confident about enforcement of smoking regulations.
"There are not enough officers to enforce these rules and most
political parties are against a licensing system, which would make
enforcement easier." 

Dutch businessman Wiel Maessen claims he is one of a large number of
people who oppose any restriction on smokers. As vice president of
the pro-smoking lobby Forces International, he fears the Netherlands
is "in danger of going down the repressive road taken by the
Anglo-Saxon countries (the UK and US)." He estimates, however, that
the vote could go either way as senate is currently evenly split. 

Maessen, a member of the Dutch Green Party, accuses pharmaceutical
companies of funding an international conspiracy to falsely brand
smoking as dangerous. "So far, my party colleagues haven't responded
positively to my ideas," he added.