The plan included a total ban of smoking in public places, including bars, restaurants, and night establishments. Faced with lobbyists and the fear of new protests, Dominique De Villepin decided… to decide nothing. In the meantime, what do the people of Nice think? Are they ready to ban smoking in public venues?
On the topic of banning smoking in public places, opinions are clearly divided. Among individuals, there is a certain defeatism among smokers. Emmanuelle, for example, 25 years old, doesn’t know what to think of this law. She has never even questioned it because, anyway, the law will pass and she will comply. Adil will also respect the law, although he admits he is “somewhat against it.” At any rate, the topic stirs passions. When questioning business owners, sometimes it’s the customers who have the harshest words. Jason is English but lives in Nice. He frequents a bar-tobacco in Old Nice and is 100% against the ban on smoking in public places and makes his opinion known. To him, this law is freedom-killing. “If I want to kill myself, let me do it. No one dictates my life! There are much more important things than this anti-smoking law. I’ve almost been run over several times by people talking on their cellphones while driving.” And he doesn’t hesitate to declare: “I give it no more than 50 years before a war breaks out in France.” He clearly states his opinion. Tony, his bar mate, agrees with him. He thinks that the solution would be to have smoker-only restaurants or to open private establishments. Let those who want to come, come and accept the consequences.
Serge, the manager of the bar-tobacco, supports his customers. “The government does not respect those who work. It decides for everyone that this is the way it will be, no two ways about it. Right now, everyone is supposed to be a non-smoker because it looks good. And us, how are we supposed to work? Even in my advertisements for cigarettes, there are numbers to call for help quitting smoking. It’s like seeing an ad for becoming a vegetarian in a butchery!” Ultimately, Serge wants bar owners to have the possibility to choose what they will do with their establishment.
Sitting comfortably on the terrace of a café, cigarette in mouth, Hervé asserts that this anti-smoking plan will not pass. “It’s impossible! No one would go clubbing anymore. The French want to smoke. It might pass in 50 years but not now.” He has a telling example; a friend of his opened a non-smoking nightclub in Montpellier… The club went under; no clientele. So, for now, Hervé advocates for mutual respect. “I don’t drink and I can’t stand alcohol. When I smell someone’s breath who has drunk, it makes me want to throw up. But still, I don’t ask them to clear out.” He wouldn’t accept having to smoke outside in the middle of winter. Non-smokers will then have to accept breathing Hervé’s toxic smoke.
But not everyone shares this view. Bernard, a friend of Hervé’s, thinks that a total ban on smoking in public places is a good thing. “Sure, tobacconists will suffer but I don’t think bars and restaurants will lose customers. There are always people who complain but it will only last for a while.”
Another supporter, Jacques, calmly drinks his coffee on the pedestrian street. “I’m all for this law! I already only frequent non-smoking bars or those with a terrace. This project is especially important for the youth because, when you’re 16, you don’t listen to those who tell you you’ll get cancer in 20 years.” However, he is very disappointed with the government’s behavior. “They’ve pushed the problem aside for fear of election results. But look at the law on the abolition of the death penalty in 1981. This penalty would still exist today if the government had listened to the French back then!”
On the pro side, there are also a good number of bar managers, contrary to what one might think. Patrick, owner of the Café de Lyon on Jean Médecin Avenue, admits himself that he might be looked down upon by his peers but he supports this law. “The others are against it because they think they will lose customers. It’s true that a large number of my clients are smokers but I think that, thanks to this law, many would return to the bars. Families or people bothered by smoke currently avoid us.” Another Patrick shares exactly the same opinion. He is a waiter at Mirador in the pedestrian street. The bar has already banned smoking inside. “People come specifically for that. So we’re not worried at all about losing customers.”
On the Promenade, Denis works at Mississippi. The establishment has separated smokers from non-smokers, but some still occasionally complain about the smoke. So Denis supports the anti-smoking law. “Today I am a non-smoker. But I know that I would have accepted the law even when I was a smoker. I don’t think that it will decrease the clientele. People who like the establishment will continue to come. And even though I think that this law will soon pass, I notice once again that the government has given in to pressures!”
And to “reassure” the bars and tobaccos worried about this law, everyone agrees to affirm that what really decreases the number of smokers is mainly the price of a pack of cigarettes!
