Effective At Midnight: Smoking Barred In Bars In Finland

2007 is the year of social change in Finland.

Smokers: have you ever sat at a bar with a bunch of friends, beer in one hand, a cigarette in the other? Of course you have. It seems so natural to have something in each hand, doesn't it?

Some places around the world have already banned smoking in bars and such, notably Ireland, a country known for its pub culture. Finland is now on that list, effective June 1st, 2007.

That's why I'm sitting at a bar right now, chain smoking for the last few hours before midnight, when the comes into effect. Foolish? Yes. Addicted? Yes.

More than a physical addiction, the new law destroys a part of my social interaction. Beer in one hand, a cigarette in the other. Spending hours at a bar with friends, playing cards, smoking, drinking, getting up only to get more to drink or to go to the bathroom. No more.

Once the day changes into Friday June 1st at midnight, things change. To be precise, the law states that:
-Smoking is banned in all licensed premises (bars, restaurants, cafes, clubs, etc...);
-The law affects all licensed premises, regardless of size of type of license;
-Smoking within such establishments is only allowed if the said establishment has built a smoking "box", an enclosed, well ventilated room, for the sole purpose of being a room in which customers can smoke;
-The smoking room is off-limits to all drink and food, as well as all other kinds of entertainment;
-Workers are not allowed into the box, except in emergencies (fire, medical assistance to customer), or for security reasons (fight erupts in box, or customer is consuming alcohol or food in the smoking box;
-Cleaners are only allowed into the box after it has been thoroughly ventilated;
-The law does not apply to terraces or patios of establishments, but owners and workers of said establishments must make sure that no second-hand smoke enters the establishment through open windows or doors, or ventilation ducts.

The purpose of this law is to protect restaurant and bar workers from being exposed to second-hand smoke at work. The law also protects non-smoking customers from the same exposure.

70 establishments have filed for a two-year transfer period to the smoking ban, whilst a mere 20 establishments have filed for the permit to build the smoking room. The two-year transfer period is only granted to establishments which fill the requirements of the law, such as having a low level of nicotine and other chemicals in the air, hand in hand with proper ventilation, in accordance with city building laws and health laws.

It's an established fact that smoking increases the risk of cancer. Common knowledge.
Now that countries are rushing to enact anti-smoking laws, it's ironic timing for the IARC, a part of the World Health Organization to release a study stating that alcohol is a category 1 cancer risk substance. (Read the study at http://www.iarc.fr/ENG/Press_Releases/pr175a.html). Great timing...

So, how will this affect the Finns? Remember that we're big drinkers, and bars are a packed on the weekends, as well as on wednesdays.

Here's what I see happening: Bars and clubs will lose business initially. Smokers will move their drinking to their homes, as well as parks and forests. Supermarkets and breweries will see their profits rise from the sale of alcohol. Bars will start to increase the comfortability of terraces, a huge venue of profit for any bar with one. As terraces are always packed during the summer months, bars will look to increasing them in capacity and entertainment. Small neighbourhood bars will start to face bankruptcy. Going clubbing will be chaos. (If you have to leave your jacket at the cloakroom during the colder months, and you can only smoke outside, how is that supposed to work out?)

Although the smoking ban makes life a little more difficult for smokers, eventually the whole bar life should become more enjoyable for all, as bars will have to come up with ingenious ways of drawing in the missing customers.

Personally, as a smoker, I half welcome this new law for health reasons, half denounce it as government interference into personal life choices of people.

Then again, I'm leaning towards the positive look on the issue... One, it'll save me money. Less smoking, less drinking. Two, quitting smoking will become easier. Three, new possibilities. And finally, for now, my social repertoire will expand beyond sitting at bars, drinking and playing cards...

A free table on the smoking side at a bar is usually the number one requirement for me entering the establishment. Now, with this new law, I'll be able to go to bars I've never gone to before, because they didn't have a smoking side, or no space at such area. Things will be different now.

It'll be interesting to see in this country which will come out on top: the bar atmosphere or the smoking. On one hand, smokers can now abide by the new law and conform to not smoking in the bar, or they'll stay at home, buying their beer from the supermarkets.

As irony, now that consumption of store-purchased alcohol will be on the rise, especially that of beer, the price of beer will go up soon, and the sale of alcohol in quantity will cease (no more 12packs... See my earlier post about the new alcohol laws in Finland...)

So, how will this really affect us? That remains to be seen... This will be a summer of packed terraces and empty bars... Which makes this summer interesting, seeing as the terraces are always full every summer. Maybe the terrace season will expand to cover the entire year, including the rainy fall days and the -30 degree winter days... Heated, covered terraces in December, complete with live music? Who knows? Maybe my promise of quitting smoking by the year's end will actually happen...