Denmark yesterday joined the swelling ranks of European countries that have banned smoking in bars, restaurants and other public places.
The Danish law had initially been due to take effect on April 1, but was delayed until yesterday to allow pub and restaurant owners to build the necessary facilities for smokers.
The law allows people to light up in separate smoking rooms and in secluded one-person workplaces. Smoking is also allowed in bars that are smaller than 40 square meters.
Denmark's Smokers Association organized a small protest late Tuesday on Copenhagen's main square where two dozen people lit up cigarettes as the City Hall's bells tolled at midnight.
"Welcome to the brave new prohibition world," association chairman Soeren Hoejbjerg yelled in a bullhorn as the clock stroke midnight.
"One day, we will only be allowed to smoke on Himmelbjerget (one of the highest points of elevation in Denmark)," he said, according to Danish news agency Ritzau.
Nearly a quarter of people in this country of 5.4 million are exposed to passive smoking, according to the National Board of Health.
The board said passive smoking was responsible for the deaths of at least 150 Danes and the hospitalization of more than 1,000 every year.
Employees or restaurants that violate the ban can be fined. First time offenders face a 2,000 kroner ($367) fine. The second time, the penalty is 5,000 kroner ($913) and 10,000 kroner ($1,830) the third time.
Ireland, Italy, Malta, Norway, Sweden, Britain and France are among the European countries that have already banned smoking in public places.
Smoking can cause blindness
People who smoke are about four times more likely to develop a leading cause of severe vision loss known as age-related macular degeneration, Australian researchers reported on Monday.
Their study provides strong evidence of the link between cigarette smoking and a leading cause of vision loss in old age.
Researchers led by Jennifer Tan of the University of Sydney followed for 10 years 2,454 Australians who were at least age 49 at the study's outset.
Smokers were about four times more likely to develop the disease than people who never smoked, and developed it an average of five years earlier, according to the study published in the journal Archives of Ophthalmology.
Previous smokers were three times as likely to have an advanced form of the disease than people who never smoked, the study also found.
Experts call cigarette smoking the most preventable cause of macular degeneration. It is a chronic disease that affects the central part of the retina of the eye, resulting in blurred central vision or a blind spot in the center of one's visual field.
Macular degeneration does not affect peripheral vision, but the loss of clear central vision can rob a person of the ability to read, drive and recognize people's faces even without causing total blindness.
Source: China Daily/agencies
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