Finland's new smoking ban

As of next Friday, June 1st, a smoking ban will enter force in Finland's restaurants and pubs. According to recent surveys, around 80 %of Finns welcome the move and even 39 % of Finland's smokers are in favour. Stig Nygard notes that with the new ban Finland is following a European trend. "Around half of all EU households are non-smoking and in Finland that figure is particularly high at 83 %. In Sweden it's 69 %. The great challenge lies in the former Eastern European states, where in some cases only 20 % of households are non-smoking. But because restaurants, pubs and bars are the tobacco industry's best recruitment locales, a smoking ban is highly likely to have a preventive effect and lead to fewer young people taking up smoking."

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