Sweden bans smoking in bars and restaurants

Smokers were forced outside today when Sweden became the fifth European country to enforce a nationwide smoking ban in restaurants, bars and cafes.

Sweden follows Ireland, Italy, Malta and Nordic neighbour Norway in making restaurants and bars smoke-free, a move the government said will protect the health of employees and non-smokers.

“Smoking has been a great work environment problem,” said Morgan Johansson, Sweden’s minister for public health and social services. “Those who work at pubs run two or three times higher risks of getting cancer than the rest of the population.”

The government estimates that about 500 Swedes die each year from passive smoking, mainly restaurant employees.

The ban has met little protest in Sweden, where a vast majority seems to favour it. In a recent opinion poll, 80% of those asked – including two-thirds of all smokers – said they support the new law.

The Swedish Hotel and Restaurant Association has also backed the ban, pointing to a survey that showed that 18% of Swedes said they would go to bars more often if they were smoke-free.

One possible reason for the positive attitudes could be that Sweden has one of the lowest smoking rates in the world – less than 20% of Swedes light up regularly.

But Swedes are keen on their unique type of chewing tobacco, known as “snus,” nicotine-loaded wads of tobacco that they have stuffed under their lips for two centuries, but is banned in the rest of the European Union.

Snus sales are expected to surge because of the smoking ban. Many restaurants have installed special refrigerators for snus cans and provided snus trays on tables.

“We have installed snus coolers in all of our 40 restaurants across Sweden,” said Vilhelm Vintilescu, managing director for the restaurant chain O’Learys.

An estimated 1 million Swedes – about 10% of the population – use snus, which other EU countries prohibited in 1992, citing a 1985 World Health Organisation study that found snuff can cause cancer.