Earlier this year, a ban on smoking in public places that has been slowly taking effect since 2006 was completed in France. According to the New York Times there are about 12 millions smokers in France (about 20% of the population), which will no longer be allowed to smoke in many of the places they once were. The prohibition also comes with potentially hefty fines for smokers and owners of establishments that fail to heed it. The French ban on smoking is part of a larger European movement towards smoke-free public places, but many of the French are rankled by the changes because they come as a government decree instead of legislation passed through the Parliament.Read more about the ban:
NY Times: Even France, Haven of Smokers, Is Clearing the Air
