Stories & Lifestyle: Smoking in the US

"Welcome to Marlboro Country" - those days are long gone! Gone are the days when cigarettes were the epitome of the American ideal of freedom. In the motherland of tobacco exports, cigarettes are no longer socially acceptable. For years now, US laws have become more and more restrictive in the field of tobacco consumption, times are no longer good for smokers.

Smokers who think the non-smoking rules on transatlantic flights are the worst will have to think again. "No smoking" regulations are in effect almost everywhere in the US by now. Not just in public buildings, offices, domestic flights, restaurants, pubs and clubs, but even in places where you wouldn't expect it - outside.

Even in your own apartment, smoking may present a problem. Usually, there will be no specific no-smoking regulations in your lease agreement, bit as soon as the neighbors start complaining about the cigarette smell, it will not be looking so good for you.

In restaurants, pubs and even private clubs, smoking tends to become increasingly unacceptable. While restaurants do have little separate smoking areas, they are usually rather uncomfortable - on purpose - near the kitchen or the restrooms. Smokers become more and more isolated in society. Smoking is considered to be a weakness of character and bad behavior.

No smoking in the Big Apple Especially New York has very strict anti-smoking regulations. Mayor Michael Bloomberg - an ex-smoker himself - doesn't seem to get tired of pointing out the dangers of passive smoking. Smokers, according to Bloomberg, do have the right to kill themselves, but not the right to endanger the life of others.

The anti-nicotine campaign became even more intense in 2002, leading to a complete smoking ban at the work place, in restaurants, bars and discotheques in New York. So many smokers had to fall back on doorways and service entrances. However, there might be an end to this, too, soon - the New York city hall in already considering to ban smoking even from the streets.

Regulations are strict, and so are the controls. Not abiding by the rules is not considered a petty offence - all the same, many barkeepers and restaurant owners risk breaking the rules and accept severe fines of several hundreds of Dollars. The reason is that the smoking ban led to severe losses in alcohol sales and the fines are considered to be the lesser evil. The first and second time, anyway, the third time they risk losing their license.

In addition to the smoking ban, prices have also increased significantly. In 2002, taxes have been raised from eight cents to $1.50 per package, leading to a decrease in cigarette sales by 13.6%. The price for one pack is $7.50 in New York at present, with an upward trend.

This price policy inevitably led to a flourishing of the black market. Many drug dealers in New York have started switching from cocaine and marihuana to cigarettes.

Smoking at the work place and in your free time Health care is getting too expensive for many US employers. That's why smokers are now facing a new problem:

Many US companies not only place a ban on smoking at the work place, they don't even allow their employees to smoke in their free time. If you smoke anyway, you lose your job. Furthermore, many companies only employ non-smokers in the first place. It's no use trying to cheat - nicotine tests or even urine analyses are used to find out the truth. In one police department in the state of Florida, applicants even have take a lie detector test to prove that they are non-smokers.

While civil rights groups have their alarm bells going off, employers justify their measures by saying that the health care contributions for their employers are rising steadily. So the US company Weyco Inc. in Michigan, for example, decided a while ago not to employ smokers at all any longer. All employees who were still smoking got a 15-month deadline to quit. Since that deadline has passed, all employees have to undergo regular check-ups to prove that they are really not smoking.

However, an absolute and all-encompassing smoking ban is not to be expected for the US. The Bush administration clearly stated that an absolute ban is not part of the official policy. Also, different US states have very different policies for smoking and the majority of smokers won't have to do without their cigarettes even in the future.

And since the US still guarantees freedom of opinion, there are lobbies both for and against (public) smoking. There are anti-smoking demonstrations as well as people organizing "smoker parties" via the internet.

Anti-smoking websites:
www.notobacco.org or www.tobacco-control.org

Pro-smoking websites:
www.smokinglobby.com or www.forces.org