The campaign participants were required to pledge to stop smoking for four weeks from May 1, 2004. I couldn’t do all that before because I was really sick." I can ride my bicycle again and can do sports. "After smoking 60 cigarettes a day for such a long time, you feel greatly relieved and much more active. "I feel brilliant," Evers said (photo, below). His pleasure has only been enhanced by the $10,000 prize he won. The 53-year-old from the northern town of Lübeck said he feels like he's been reborn six months after he ended a smoking career of almost three packs of cigarettes daily for the past 32 years. "If there is a total ban, it will create a level playing field again for everybody," said Cafe Drechsler's owner Robert Kollmann.Karl-Heinz Evers was drawn from 700,000 participants worldwide in the "Quit and Win 2004" campaign sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO). The Social Democrats and conservative Austrian People's Party have ruled together almost continuously since 1945 - and both are liable to be swayed against a ban by the country's vocal smoker's lobby.Īs a result, "it's difficult to impose anything," according to Karl Krajic, a sociologist and health expert with the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute in Vienna.Īustria's Chamber of Commerce opposes a total ban in public places, saying restaurants and cafes invested close to 100 million euros to make alterations in line with the 2009 law.īut some in the sector are open to change. Many observers believe a culture of government compromise bordering on indecisiveness is to blame for the slow moves towards a ban. Only Greeks, Bulgarians and Latvians smoke more. Thirty-three percent of people in the small alpine country light up on a regular basis, compared to an EU average of 28 percent and far more than the French or Italians. Even Vienna's General Hospital has a "Tabak" selling cigarettes right in the entrance.Ĭigarettes are significantly cheaper in Austria than elsewhere in western Europe at an average of 4.90 euros ($6.30) per pack, compared to seven euros in France or 11 euros in Britain.Īustrians are the fourth-heaviest smokers in Europe, according to the latest Eurobarometer poll in 2012. The Viennese institution bade farewell to smokers after a court ordered it to make the path to the toilets smoke-free, which would have required costly alterations.īut it is a rarity. This just doesn't suit anyone," said 38-year-old Roman, sat in the landmark Cafe Drechsler in central Vienna. "This law we have, I find it pretty ridiculous: either you have a ban or you don't. Many agree however it's time for some clarity. Her plan is likely to run into stiff resistance and she admits no decision will be taken without involving the hospitality industry, which strongly opposes a ban. "I would like to finalise this now, agree to a transition period and have a total ban in place by a deadline - the aim being within five years," she said in a recent interview. "The current law was set up to fail," says Manfred Neuberger, a professor at Vienna's Medical University, who has led several studies on smoking bans in Europe and Austria.īut the anti-smoking camp is set for a boost after Austria's newly appointed health minister Sabine Oberhauser called for a total ban on smoking in public places within five years. Many punters simply prop the doors open and carry on puffing regardless, prompting self-proclaimed "sheriffs" to patrol the streets and file complaints. Small cafes and eateries under 50 square metres (500 square feet) can ignore the ban, while larger establishments need only provide a non-smoking section.