Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-11-26-Speech-4-190"
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"en.20091126.18.4-190"2
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"I believe that we must protect non-smokers from passive smoking, but also make smokers aware of the impact of their addiction on themselves and others. They must not be left in any doubt about this. In Belgium, we also have a head-start on this issue because our country has already advocated a total ban on smoking in the hospitality sector and at all places of work by 2012.
Having said this, I would still like to express two concerns. Firstly, are we heading towards a society that imposes blanket bans? What do we do about individual responsibility? I feel a sense of unease about a society resembling the one described by George Orwell in his novel ‘1984’. Secondly, if smokers have to be made to break their harmful habit for themselves and others, this must be done with the utmost respect. Tobacco is a drug. Banning it completely would be tantamount to denying that most smokers are in a state of dependency. A total ban may be regarded as an act of exclusion, which may prove to be counterproductive. Why, therefore, have we not provided the option of reserving areas specifically for them?"@en1
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