 |
| A Burning Issue |
 |
 |
A short history of Europe's love-hate relationship with tobacco |
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted Sunday, Jan. 5, 2003; 2.02 p.m. GMT
Almost since tobacco came to the Old World, rulers have tried to stand between Europeans and their smoking — sometimes for health, but often for taxes
1689 Russia's Peter the Great, a keen inhaler and tax collector, ends the Romanov smoking bans which had at times made it punishable by flogging, lip slitting, transportation to Siberia, even death.
1724 Snuff-taking Pope Benedict XIII repeals papal bans on smoking to spare clergy the indignity of having to sneak off for clandestine puffs.
1848 Citizens of Milan stop smoking
to protest Austria's control of tobacco revenues. Deadly riots ensue after Austrian soldiers smoke large cigars on the street.
1939 Hermann Göring outlaws military smoking on the streets as part of Nazi Germany's sustained campaign against tobacco, which also included groundbreaking medical research. The Nazis considered smoking a "hazard to the race."
1965 Cigarette advertising on TV is outlawed by British Parliament. Other media are left to voluntary codes and agreements.
1969 Pan American Airlines creates the first nonsmoking section on its planes. TWA and United Airlines swiftly follow suit.
1983 British agency Saatchi & Saatchi creates its first product-free Silk Cut adverts, the most successful tobacco-ad campaign ever; a farewell poster is expected next month.
1985 Iceland bolsters its already tough antismoking credentials with a near-total ban on public smoking.
1987
A 1985 ban on smoking on London's Underground trains is extended to the entire system after a fire started by a discarded butt kills 30. Until 1991, however, smokers can still spark up on the top deck of the city's buses.
1988
Europe's first lawsuit against the tobacco industry is launched by Finland's Pentti Aho, 66. The case failed in 2001 when — nine years after his death — the supreme court held Aho responsible for his own ill health.
1990 Claude Evin, France's Social Affairs Minister, introduces stringent restrictions on tobacco advertising as smoking-related health-care costs hit $8 billion a year.
1995 New York City passes its Smoke-Free Air Act, banning smoking in the dining areas of restaurants with more than 35 seats, sports stadiums and recreational areas. The law also imposes limits on workplace smoking.
2002 Legislation bans all tobacco advertising in Britain by mid-2003, though Formula One racing gets a let-off to 2006
 |
 |
|
|
A F R I C A
 It's Not Cricket: Pressure mounts on teams to shun Zimbabwe in the forthcoming cricket World Cup
B U S I N E S S
Drug Bust: Bayer needs a buyer to cure its headaches |
S C I E N C E
Mars or Bust: In which the Red Planet gets a historic visit from a British Beagle
A R T S
Midnight Matinee: Salman Rushdie's acclaimed novel finally makes it to the stage |
|
|
 |
|
