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Danish city prepares outdoor smoking ban

The Local Sweden
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Danish city prepares outdoor smoking ban
Smoking at playgrounds and parks would be banned under the proposal. Photo: Scanpix

Politicians in the Jutland city of Randers are eyeing a far-reaching smoking ban as part of its plan to drastically cut down the number of smokers over the next decade.

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Smoking in all municipal buildings, playgrounds and public parks will be banned if a proposal in Randers goes through as planned. 
 
Randers Municipality recently approved a new health policy that aims to bring the percentage of city residents who smoke down to just five percent. In order to reach that goal, city officials are planning a comprehensive smoking ban along with support programmes to help residents kick the habit.
 
 
“There will be signs set up, for example in municipal parks. In that way, we will appeal to people not to smoke. But there won’t be consequences. It should be seen as a recommendation,” Lene Jensen, the head of health affairs at Randers Municipality, told local newspaper Randers Amtsavis. 
 
The officials’ plan also calls for a complete smoking ban for municipal employees during working hours. 
 
The anti-smoking initiatives have been warmly received in preliminary hearings and a final vote is expected this week. 
 
Popular opinion appears to be against the far-reaching proposal. Some 70 percent of readers of the tabloid BT said that banning outdoor smoking goes too far and 68 percent said that they hoped that the Randers policy would not be extended to other Danish cities. 

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