[Intl-tobacco] Parisian cafes to go smoke-free?

[robert weissman]

Answer: Not soon, according to this article ...

Parisian cafes to go smoke-free?
Times Online
October 1, 2004

The days of the Parisian intellectual sitting at cafes and puffing away wit=
h
cigarette or pipe might be at an end. The Major of Paris has proposed the
unthinkable: cigarette-free cafes and restaurants.

Aware of the strength of public feeling on the matter Bertrand Delanoe has
resisted the outright ban favoured by New York and Ireland. Instead, he has
offered the city's 12,000 cafes, bistros, restaurants and hotels a "smoke
free" quality badge if they banish all smoking from their premises.

The proposed scheme has met opposition from caf=E9 owners who believe it wi=
ll
drive customers away. "We will never take part in this scheme", said manage=
r
of the Caf=E9 de Flore, Carole Chretiennot. "It is unbelievable stupidity",
she continued. This flies in the face of individual liberty. When you come
into Flore, you have the smell of coffee and a cloud of smoke. That makes
the ambience."