Non-smokers in Germany–nowhere to hide
When I came to Germany, I was ready to be open to cultural differences, but I just can’t develop tolerance for cigarette smoke, and it has become the bane of my life here.
Germans do smoke more than Australians. About three in ten Germans compared to two in ten Australians are smokers. But the real difference is where and when German people smoke—namely everywhere, any time. In Australia, as in the US, there is a pariah mentality about smoking. Smoking is done furtively, apologetically, discretely. If people do smoke near you, they will self-consciously wave the smoke away from you. In Germany you can smoke with your head held high—it is your private pleasure, and nothing to make excuses about.
As a consequence, smoking is hard to get away from. It is a struggle to find a non-smoking area in a restaurant. People even smoke in the foyers of gyms, or at the swimming pool. I was dumbstruck to find smoking allowed in my workplace here, and not just in private offices or designated areas, but in the corridors and public spaces. Clearly, Germany has been sheltered from the lawsuits that have led to anti-smoking policies in many other countries, and the government here appears to show no serious commitment to smoking as a public health issue, despite the fact that smoking-related illness costs Germany DM 29 billion and 110,000 lives a year.
The tobacco industry seems to have a comfortable relationship with the German government, even to the extent that party conventions and newspapers may be funded by tobacco companies. Initiatives put forward by the health ministry are routinely rejected by the Chancellery, and Germany opposed the recent EU moves to ban all cigarette advertising and increase the size of health warnings on packets.
The government budget for anti-smoking campaigns is about DM 2 million a year, up against DM 600 million spent by the tobacco industry on promotion. And when you do see an anti-smoking ad in the cinema, you can only wonder what impact it has when it is wedged between cigarette ads.
Cigarette advertising was a distant memory for me, so when we first arrived here the mere fact of cigarette advertisements was a surprise, but ever since they have provided a constant source of amusement and amazement. I often wish that I had kept a photographic diary of the extraordinary range of silly, sexy, sexist and tongue-in-cheek posters for the edification of the folks back home.
The ads clearly work, though. Smoking is still regarded as cool among young people in Germany, and there are a disheartening number of young smokers here. Groups of teenagers smoke as they wait for their morning train to school. Rock gigs confront you with a wall of smoke (we went to a non-smoking gig once—about one in ten people were smoking instead of one in three). But underage smoking can hardly come as a surprise when there is a cigarette machine on every street corner, happy to vend cigarettes to anyone without demanding proof of age.
Smoking seems to create a blind spot in German, who are otherwise a strictly law-abiding people. Cigarette butts apparently don’t count as litter. Non-smoking signs aren’t to be taken seriously. And this is only reinforced in S-Bahn stations by the ashtrays that are often provided directly below the non-smoking signs! Even more remarkable is that, while the average Münchner will tell you off in no uncertain terms for the most minor infringements of law or custom, no one seems to take umbrage at this blatant flouting of the law.
In Germany, both society and legislation uphold the right to smoke over the right to avoid smoke. It is a complex issue, and perhaps here in Germany the past swings the balance. The Nazis were fervently anti-tobacco, with Hitler’s government imposing some of the widest restrictions on smoking ever seen. It has even been argued that smoking in the 1930s and 1940s could be seen as a subtle form of resistance. It is therefore understandable that the government is wary of paternalism in regard to smoking, and that freedom of expression is accorded greater importance than the conflicting right to breathe smoke-free air. I can understand it. But it still ruins my day.
