Smoking should not actually be allowed in places where people eat. Non-smokers and smokers alike approve of the principle of “no smoking in restaurants”, as survey results and letters to the editor as well as comments in the media repeatedly show.
The non-smoker protection laws of the federal states also largely reflect this, as smoking rooms in restaurants are usually linked to a ban on food preparation (e.g. Lower Saxony, Hamburg) or to a size that is generally not profitable for restaurants (e.g. Baden-Württemberg, Berlin). However, the question arises as to why there is a two-tier system for food consumption. Why is smoking prohibited in restaurants, but allowed in one-room pubs, smoking rooms in larger pubs or marquees in many places? Is it more unbearable to eat Tournedo’s Rossini under a cloud of smoke than meatballs with potato salad? Does it make the unwilling smoker in the marquee choke less on bratwurst with sauerkraut than on trout Müllerin style in a restaurant? The quality of the prepared food or whether it is served hot or cold cannot be a differentiating criterion. The decisive factor is rather that smoking is not acceptable in the restaurant or in any other place where food is consumed, something that most smokers take to heart in their own homes. Special mention should be made of private parties, where non-smoking protection is usually cancelled: these are mostly family celebrations during which a lot of opulent food is consumed. Experience shows that all exceptions to non-smoker protection regulations are a bad thing. It is not just smoking in restaurants that should be banned, but smoking in all catering establishments without any exceptions.
A landlord doesn’t care about compliance with non-smoker protection in his restaurant?
Use our complaint form and show the landlord the red card. To download, click on the link or the document, a new window will open. Right-click on the red card and select “Save as” to download the document to your hard drive.
