Dutch minister admits smoking ban is a partial failure.

Small bars in the Netherlands can continue to ignore the smoking ban, as Dutch Health Minister,
Ab Klink says he will not take new measures to enforce it. A ministry spokesperson told that
there is "no need to change current policy. The smoking ban, aimed at protecting employees'
health, came into force in July 2008. Small bars, which are often unable to create the required
separate zones for smokers and non-smokers, increasingly allow their clients to smoke indoors.
The Supreme Court decided in April that a number of convicted owners who broke the smoking
law should not be acquitted.

Bar odd-one out Figures collected by opinion pollster Intraval show that the 41 per cent of bar
owners are flaunting the smoke-restriction law, and the violating rate is increasing steadily.
Bars are the exception, as hotels, fast food shops, restaurants and sports clubs are all obeying
the rules. The Dutch Food Safety Authority is checking whether patrons are allowed to smoke
inside bars. The bar owner is cautioned twice and, if the smoking continues, the authority can
impose successive fines rising from an initial 300 euro to 2,400 euro.
Source: Radio Netherlands Worldwide, May 4, 2010

MPs say yes to extending smoking ban to all cafes and bars.

A small majority of Members of Parliament voted for a motion to reinstate a complete ban on smoking
in restaurants, bars and cafes. Small-scale bars and cafes run by their owners have been exempt since
the ban was relaxed in 2010 by the previous government. However, the ban, brought in nearly five
years ago, is widely flouted in bigger bars, cafes and nightclubs. The VVD, Socialists, PVV and 50Plus
voted against, saying owners of small bars and cafes are quite capable of deciding whether or not
customers should be allowed to smokeon their premises. The government must now decide what to
do with the motion. Junior health minister, Martin van Rijn said in January, he is working on a 'broad
package of prevention'.
Source: Dutch News. nl, February 12, 2013

Smoking ban to be reinstated in all cafes in July 2014, said minister.

Smoking ban to be reinstated in all cafes, said junior health minister Martin van Rijn in May 2013.
The ban on smoking in bars and cafes will be reinstated across the entire hospitality industry in July
2014. Changes in the tobacco law will be presented to parliament before October, so that all legal
obstacles can be dealt with and the total ban is properly anchored in law. Once the ban is reintroduced,
smoking will be no longer be allowed in small cafes and bars, which are run by their owners. It will
only be permitted in separate sealed-off smoking areas without service. 'We are doing what we can
with controls, warnings and fines but our financial resources are limited,' the minister said.
The Dutch smoking ban was introduced to protect workers rather than public health in general.
However, the ban, brought in nearly five years ago, is widely flouted in bigger bars, cafes and
nightclubs. Just 57% of Netherlands' bars and cafes now keep to the ban on smoking. Some 61%
of discos and 88% of cafes which serve food are smoke free, according to health ministry inspectors.
Dutch News. nl: May 3, 2013

Smoking Restriction at Amsterdam 2010


(L) Automatic vending machine for tobacco sale seen at the corner of a bar
(M) The entrance to the new Garden Wing of Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam
(R) The entrance to the old Victoria Wing of Park Plaza Victoria

(L) A sign board placed on the table of non-smoking floor of the Park Plaza Victoria
(M) Entire rooms are smoke-free at the Victoria Wing of the Park Plaza Victoria
(R) Smoking rooms are provided on the 3 floors of 5th, 6th and 7th of the Garden Wing.

(L) The Park Plaza Victoria Hotel in the front of Amsterdam Central train station
(R) The Ibis Hotel next to the Amsterdam Central train station

According to the smoking ban in Netherland, entire lobby and corridor spaces are smoke-free. Park Plaza Victoria has
a new Garden wing and old Victoria wing. The Garden wing provides 30 smoking rooms. However, The Victoria wing is
entirely smoke-free. The total guest rooms are 306, and the rate of smoking rooms is 10.2%. Ibis Hotel Amsterdam
Centre next to the Centraal Station has a total of 406 rooms-all are smoke-free.

H 世界各地のホテル喫煙規制実態現地調査結果
Smoking Restriction at Hotels in the World: Actual Survey
The ratio of a smoking guest room to the total hotel rooms was calculated,
based on-the-spot investigation.



(L) The beckoning cat behind a display window (R) Terrace seats of a pizza house provide ashtrays.

(L) A tobacco shop in the red light district of Amsterdam (R) Smokers' pub (A smoking space only)

Smokers are welcomed in the night pubs.

A separate smoking room is provided in this coffee shop.

(L) Smoking and non-smoking sections are present in the coffee shop seen in Amsterdam
(M) Smoking is allowed in the entire space of this coffee shop.
(R) A painted scrawling wall of a coffee shop in Amsterdam


Law is to stop pot-smoking tourists buying cannabis scrapped by Dutch government.

Tourists heading to Holland to use cannabis in the country's notorious 'coffee-shops' will be relieved after
a law banning it was ditched. The government planned to issue 'weed passes' meaning that fromJanuary
1 2013 only Dutch residents could buy cannabis. This was labeled 'tourism suicide' by critics because
an estimated one million holiday-makers a year, including Britons, go to Amsterdam to legally buy and
smoke drugs. MPs have now ruled that each city is free to decide its own legislation on the sale of
marijuana and hashish. Amsterdam's liberal mayor Laan has said enforcing the law in his city would
only force pot smokers onto the streets. 'Instead they're just going to try to find it on the streets, leading
to a larger black market, more disputes with dealers, no control over its quality and all the other problems
we used to have.' The Netherlands decriminalised soft drugs in the 1970s, making it legal to buy up to 5g
of marijuana from licensed vendors. There are currently around 750 coffee-shops in the country, with
around 220 of those in Amsterdam, mostly in the city's famous red-light district where prostitution is
also legal. 'This law will put an end to the nuisance and criminality associated with coffee-shops and
drug-trafficking.' Those opposing the law cited a fear that Dutch residents could sell the marijuana they
could legally purchase on to tourists at an inflated price.
Source: November 1, 2012, Mail Online


(L) Smoking area provided at the 15th plateform of Amsterdam Central Station
(R) Amsterdam Centraal railway station with a steel round dome

Cigarette butts discarded outside of the Amsterdam Central train station.
Photographed in May, 2010.

The Government of The Netherlands introduced a nationwide smoking ban in public places to protect
workers.

The smoking ban had been applied since July 2008. This covers all restaurants,cafe shops and bars.
Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said that the coffee shops should be treated in the same manner
as other catering businesses. However, a proprietor is allowed to set up a separate room in which
people can smoke, but customers will not be served there to protect staff members. Balkenende
stressed that 'Employees should not have to work in an environment, in which they are constantly
exposed to the harmful effects of smoking'.

Amsterdam's well known coffee shops, where marijuana can be smoked openly in a relaxed atmosphere,
are one of the city's big draws for tourists. Patrons of cannabis cafes will still be allowed to smoke
marijuana as long as it is not mixed with tobacco. Possession of cannabis is illegal in Netherlands, but
holders of the amounts less than 5 grams is not prosecuted.
Source: Jun 8, 2007 Reuters & July1, 2008 BBC News

In February 2013, the Dutch parliament agreed on a total ban in the hospitality sector with 77-73, with
no exception for smaller, owner-operated bars.

オランダでレストラン、カフェ、バーを全面禁煙にオランダの喫煙者は全人口の約30％ほどである。
肺癌による死亡者数は全死亡の7％を占める。オランダでは、職場での禁煙はすでに施行されていたが、これまで
ごく少数のレストランが全面禁煙として営業していた。2008年7月に広範囲な受動喫煙防止法が施行され
レストラン、カフェ、バー、ナイトクラブ、ホテルが全面禁煙となった。

政府広報部は企業の従業員はタバコ副流煙の有害物質から自分を守る権利が認められていることを強調している。
完全に分離しているが、ウエイトレスなどのサービスを行っている喫煙ルームは今後禁止され、閉鎖される。
新規性法では大麻( cannabis )を吸うことの出来た"coffeshops"での喫煙行為も禁止され、大麻の吸引ならば
許されるとの報道もある。

2008年7月からの飲食店内の全面禁煙規制に先立ち2008年1月、アムステルダム・スキポール空港ターミナル
ビル内、レストラン、カフェ、航空会社ラウンジを含む、全ての場所で全面禁煙となった。
引用 　Radio Netherlands, June7, 2007
引用　 Dutch News. March 22, 2008
引用　 Dutch News. March 26, 2008

しかし、今回の検証旅行で明らかになったことは、空港3階喫茶店の奥に喫煙ブースが設置されていたことだ。
2階のパスポートコントロールから見上げると、もうもうたるタバコの紫煙がガラス越に見える。空港以外にも、
アムステルダム中央駅周辺の喫茶店などで、こうした「分離した」喫煙室がある。いわゆる"coffeshops"では
全席喫煙室のところが多い。受動喫煙防止令で謳われた内容とは異なった状況がそこにある。

オランダのバーで受動喫煙防止法を無視して店内でタバコを吸うことを許しているところが41%にも達し、
更に増加していることが明らかにされている。ホテル、レストラン、ファーストフード店内では法律はよく
守られているとの認識はある。今後、喫煙を許している店舗に対し、2回にわたり警告を出し、従わない場合は
罰金を現在の 300ユーロから2,400ユーロに増額し徴収する。

2008年に一旦、全面禁煙を決めたが完全に守られずカフェやバーで喫煙を許しているところが多く見られた。
今回、改めて規制強化し、人が立ち入ることの出来ない喫煙ブースを除き、2014年7月から全面禁煙となる。

オランダは自由の国といわれている。アムステルダムの中心街には性産業あり、マリファナあり、喫煙の自由
ありで、何事も達成できるような錯覚に陥る。しかし、そこには後戻り出来ない道も用意されている。

2008年に一旦、全面禁煙を決めたが完全に守られずカフェやバーで喫煙を許しているところが多く見られた。
今回、改めて規制強化し、人がそこで食事することの出来ない喫煙ブースを除き、2014年7月から全面禁煙と
なる。タバコを含め薬物中毒の落とし穴へ多くの男女が自ら求めて引き込まれているのだ。
こうした情景を見ることにより、人間にとって何が一番大切なのかを改めて考えさせられる。

Holland
Netherlands Schiphol Airport and Railways Amsterdam tram Amsterdam city 1 Amsterdam city 2
Tobacco control in Holland


オランダ喫煙規制とタバコ健康警告
2008年3月執筆　2008年11月加筆 　2009年12月英文加筆 　2010年5月加筆 　2013年10月加筆
2020年8月および2024年1月再編集　医学博士　宮本順伯
★This Web site is link-free.
This information was provided by the Smokefree Hotel and Travel.
The article was written in March, 2008, and last revised in August 2020, by Junhaku Miyamoto, M.D.,PhD.
Photographs were taken in May, 2010.
Copyright(C) 2008 Junhaku Miyamoto, All rights reserved.


Schiphol to Narita by aircraft.:This was photographed in May, 2010.