It has been a couple of months since the French government had imposed a ban on public smoking. Starting on January 1, 2008, it would be illegal to smoke at bars, night clubs, restaurants, hotels, casinos, cafes, and other public places of business. If you were at a coffee shop and felt like lighting up, don’t.
February of 2007, it was illegal to smoke at the workplace, schools, airports, bus stations, train stations, hospitals, libraries, and so forth. In short, the French government has been cracking down on public smoking since 2007. If you are a smoker, you are out of luck in most cases.
Now, it is the middle of June 2008. While it the ban keeps smokers from lighting up in public, it does not keep smokers from lighting up. When there is a will, there is a way. A ban has called forth for smokers to be creative and come up with their own ideas.
Instead of openly defying a smoking ban, smokers have united by taking other measures. Instead of bars, clubs, and restaurants, there are private parties. Yes, smokers are organizing open house get-togethers in which they can puff to their hearts content until sunrise. If you can’t smoke at a party, you do the next best thing; make a party where you can smoke at.
These parties are usually held at flats and houses. Most of the parties are free of charge. In short, this is a new movement that has many leaving the bars and night clubs in order to have a smoke.
The use of the Internet gives info to the partygoers on where and when such parties will be held. Facebook is one such online social network used.
The social network started out with a few dozen members. Now, the number of members is over 1,000. Yes, there are a lot of people looking for a gathering where they can smoke.
In a nutshell, smokers across France are finding alternatives to bars and restaurants.
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