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by Wildgoose 938 days ago
Lots of outrage, but where is the pragmatic reality? Prohibition didn't eliminate alcohol. The "War on Drugs" has been a spectacular failure.

Surely it makes better sense to tax this behaviour and try to mitigate the harm caused?
1 comments
ghusto 938 days ago
The U.K. did a good job with this. The number of smokers there nowadays is way down from when I was a teen, thanks mainly to simple changes.

The most effective of which is where you are allowed to smoke. Public spaces like cafe and restaurant terraces were made smoke-free, and it made a dramatic difference.

Here in the Netherlands, they've made no such change, and it shows. People smoke _everywhere_. I'll admit that as an ex-smoker I'm likely more militant about these things, but I really don't think it's okay to smoke outside a children's school for during pickup, or at a cafe when people are eating. It's like the outside summer days are reserved just for smokers, since nobody else wants to be around that.

Anyway, ranting aside, I'd say the pragmatic reality is what the U.K. has done.

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twiss 938 days ago
> People smoke _everywhere_.

According to [1], smoking is relatively uncommon in NL compared to most EU countries (which matches my experience), and at the same level as the UK. However, I think it might depend on where you are within the country.

> I really don't think it's okay to smoke outside a children's school for during pickup

It is in fact prohibited to smoke on school squares in the Netherlands [2]. Whether that's enforced is another matter, of course.

Smoking is also prohibited inside in cafes and restaurants. I'd be happy if that were extended to terraces (or just everywhere), but with the party for "freedom" winning the election it seems unlikely.

[1]: https://www.statista.com/statistics/433390/individuals-who-c...

[2]: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/roken/vraag-en-antw...

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ghusto 938 days ago
> According to [1], smoking is relatively uncommon in NL compared to most EU countries

I don't know, must be regional differences like you say. I'm in the Randstad, though when I go on holiday down south I also experience it.

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