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Sweden moves to ban smoking in public places

The Swedish government wants to ban smoking at outdoor restaurants, train platforms, playgrounds and other public places.

Published: 26 January 2018 12:25 CET
Updated: 26 January 2018 16:29 CET

Sweden moves to ban smoking in public places

File photo of a smoker. Photo: Jessica Gow/TT

Health Minister Annika Strandhäll announced the centre-left coalition government's new legislative proposal to stub out smoking in certain public places at a press conference at Stockholm Central Station on Friday.

“We need to de-normalize the use of tobacco in the public space,” Strandhäll told reporters.

“I think it is reasonable that you should not have to be exposed to tobacco smoke in these kinds of places, such as platforms. Ninety percent of the population do not smoke,” she said.

The government is expected to put a formal proposal to parliament in February, reports news agency TT.

Strandhäll said it would include a proposal to introduce rules stating that Sweden's moist powder tobacco 'snus' may only be sold in packs of at least 20 portions to discourage non-users from buying the product.

INTERVIEWS: Stockholmers react to proposed smoking ban

Health Minister Annika Strandhäll presenting the proposal on Friday. Photo: Sören Andersson/TT

The bid follows a lengthy government inquiry, released in 2016 but commissioned by the previous centre-right government in 2014, which suggested limiting the number of areas in which people are allowed to smoke.

A separate report from Sweden's Public Health Agency in 2014 pointed to evidence suggesting that passive smoking is responsible for up to ten cases of lung cancer in the country each year as well as around 400 cases of cardiovascular disease.

Repeated polls have indicated that most Swedes back the idea of an extended smoking ban, with young people especially in favour of the plan.

However critics argue that a more extensive ban on smoking is a step too far in a country which already prohibits lighting up inside a wide range of places including bars, restaurants and shopping centres.

The Local took to the streets of Stockholm on Friday to find out what people thought. Read their comments here.

'Very little debate' on consequences of Sweden's crime and migration clampdown

The Liberties Rule of Law report shows Sweden backsliding across more areas than any other of the 19 European Union member states monitored, fuelling concerns that the country risks breaching its international human rights obligations, the report says.

“We’ve seen this regression in other countries for a number of years, such as Poland and Hungary, but now we see it also in countries like Sweden,” says John Stauffer, legal director of the human rights organisation Civil Rights Defenders, which co-authored the Swedish section of the report.

The report, compiled by independent civil liberties groups, examines six common challenges facing European Union member states.

Sweden is shown to be regressing in five of these areas: the justice system, media environment, checks and balances, enabling framework for civil society and systemic human rights issues.

The only area where Sweden has not regressed since 2022 is in its anti-corruption framework, where there has been no movement in either a positive or negative direction.

Source: Liberties Rule of Law report

As politicians scramble to combat an escalation in gang crime, laws are being rushed through with too little consideration for basic rights, according to Civil Rights Defenders.

Stauffer cites Sweden’s new stop-and-search zones as a case in point. From April 25th, police in Sweden can temporarily declare any area a “security zone” if there is deemed to be a risk of shootings or explosive attacks stemming from gang conflicts.

Once an area has received this designation, police will be able to search people and cars in the area without any concrete suspicion.

“This is definitely a piece of legislation where we see that it’s problematic from a human rights perspective,” says Stauffer, adding that it “will result in ethnic profiling and discrimination”.

Civil Rights Defenders sought to prevent the new law and will try to challenge it in the courts once it comes into force, Stauffer tells The Local in an interview for the Sweden in Focus Extra podcast.

He also notes that victims of racial discrimination at the hands of the Swedish authorities had very little chance of getting a fair hearing as actions by the police or judiciary are “not even covered by the Discrimination Act”.

READ ALSO: ‘Civil rights groups in Sweden can fight this government’s repressive proposals’

Stauffer also expresses concerns that an ongoing migration clampdown risks splitting Sweden into a sort of A and B team, where “the government limits access to rights based on your legal basis for being in the country”.

The report says the government’s migration policies take a “divisive ‘us vs them’ approach, which threatens to increase rather than reduce existing social inequalities and exclude certain groups from becoming part of society”.

Proposals such as the introduction of a requirement for civil servants to report undocumented migrants to the authorities would increase societal mistrust and ultimately weaken the rule of law in Sweden, the report says.

The lack of opposition to the kind of surveillance measures that might previously have sparked an outcry is a major concern, says Stauffer.

Politicians’ consistent depiction of Sweden as a country in crisis “affects the public and creates support for these harsh measures”, says Stauffer. “And there is very little talk and debate about the negative consequences.”

Hear John Stauffer from Civil Rights Defender discuss the Liberties Rule of Law report in the The Local’s Sweden in Focus Extra podcast for Membership+ subscribers.

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