Photographer Frank Blum puffed contentedly on a hand-rolled cigarette in a cafe in central Berlin, blatantly ignoring a ban that went into effect in most of Germany this month.
Berlin police are not responding to complaints about renegade smokersBERLIN: Photographer Frank Blum puffed contentedly on a hand-rolled cigarette in a cafe in central Berlin, blatantly ignoring a ban that went into effect in most of Germany this month.
“I’m smoking because no one’s stopping me,” Blum, 43, said from behind his laptop, one of a dozen customers happily smoking without fear. “The cafes aren’t making it difficult.”
Blum is one of many disobeying a law banning smoking in public places — cafes, bars and night clubs — in force in Berlin and 11 other German states from January 1. “My friends and I only go to places that let us smoke,” said Lena Reuster, a 24-year-old economics student surrounded by a cloud of her own smoke. “When we go out we want our beer and cigarettes. It doesn’t really matter until July.”
The changes left only four of Germany’s 16 states — Saxony, Rheinland-Palatinate, Saarland and Thuringia — with no ban. However, they plan to become smoke-free by July. In the city-state of Berlin, the non-smoking bill issued by the Department of Health and Consumer Protection made police and proprietors responsible for enforcing the ban.
They face fines up to $1,500 for violations. Anyone now lighting up inside a public place is, in theory, risking a 100-euro fine, even though Berlin decided not to collect any fines until after a six-month transition period.
Berlin police have not responded to complaints about renegade smokers and are by and large letting cafe and bar owners decide whether customers can smoke or not.
“The smoking ban has taken effect but, during the transition period, it is not considered important,” said Berlin police spokeswoman Birit Koenigsmann. “We’re not sure what will happen from July but right now it’s not a top priority.”
Newspapers are full of stories from both sides of the ashtray. The mass-circulation newspaper Bild reported that Gerhard Gruenberg, a Berlin pub owner, received two black eyes from an angry customer who rejected his request to smoke outside.
Some smokers in Frankfurt on Oder on Germany’s eastern border, who face the state of Brandenburg’s even stricter regulations on smoking, have been crossing the border into Poland to puff in bars where there is no ban.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}