French love of cigarettes to go up in smoke under new banp-by Peter O'Neil and Megan Ainscow
The French resistance movement against strict new anti-smoking laws, despite being backed by defiant battle cries, is running on fumes in the days leading up to a Jan. 1 edict against lighting up in bars, restaurants and the venerable French cafes. "Many people won't respect the law. We're in France, you know?" said Pauline Bleher, 21, sipping a beer in a cloud of her own cigarette smoke in a Parisian pub. "This isn't Canada or the United States."
But other bar owners and patrons say they will respect the law and are in some cases relieved that the crackdown will end smouldering tensions between the nicotine-addicted and the increasingly outspoken non-smokers - dubbed "the ayatollahs" by one group opposing the law.Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin, France's minister for health, youth and sport, appeared on French television this month to remind smokers and restaurant owners that, if caught, they face fines of 68 euros ($98) and 135 euros ($194), respectively.
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