The city of Amsterdam and the Municipal Health Service (GGD) have encouraged the establishment of smoke-free zones in public spaces by allowing residents in the Dutch capital to request that smoke-free (rookvrij) pavement tiles be installed. This can be done anywhere in the city, around apartment buildings and schools, for example.
Smoke-free zones in Amsterdam
According to the GGD in Amsterdam, having smoke-free zones in areas around schools, sports clubs, playgrounds and healthcare facilities like hospitals helps prevent young people from smoking in the first place and makes it easier for smokers to quit. Smoke-free zones are indicated by the blue pavement tiles with the smoke-free logo of a white tick mark - they are incentives, not bans.
Now, residents and organisations can also request to have smoke-free tiles installed by the municipality. To ensure that the smoke-free zone is a success, the applicant is responsible for spreading awareness about the area and addressing smokers in a friendly way. This is just another initiative in the Netherlands to reduce smoking - the government is also looking at raising the age limit for smoking from 18 to 21.
Mixed reactions among Dutch residents over smoke-free zones
Huda, a resident in Amsterdam, recently applied for a smoke-free zone around her apartment building in hopes that it would stop littering and stop a few people from smoking altogether. Smokers, many from the secondary schools in the area, often light up their cigarettes under the shelter of the balconies during rainy weather. "We get a lot of students here. They come to smoke and they leave cigarette butts and packets behind," Huda told AT5.
The reactions among others in the area were mixed. "Yes, I think it's a shame. They're just taking away our freedom," said one student who was disappointed by the addition. While others were happy to have a smoke-free zone. "I like it, because I always find it annoying when I walk past people who blow smoke towards me," another student told AT5.
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