Forostar
Ancient Mariner
Smoking ban leads to new religion
Café owners in the Netherlands are joining religious movement known as the One and Universal Smokers Church of God, the Telegraaf reports on Wednesday.
‘We stand firmly behind the church’s teachings and that is smoking,’ Cor Busch, owner of the former Lindeboom café in Alkmaar told the paper. ‘Smokers are being discriminated against… but a beer and a cigarette belong together.’
Smoking has been banned in Dutch bars since July 1.
Several dozen bars have joined the movement which claims the Dutch constitution and European rules give it legitimacy under the right to freedom of religion, the paper says.
People who join the church get a membership card entitling them to smoke inside the building. Worshippers believe in the trinity of smoke, fire and ash and honour their god by smoking.
Church founder Michiel Eijsbouts says café owners who are trying to get round the ban on smoking will not be allowed to join. The church, he says, takes smoking very seriously.
‘It has ritual aspects, it is something you experience and we follow our faith very strictly,’ he told the Telegraaf.
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Dutch cafes use fake cigarette smells to create atmosphere after smoking ban
Nasty smells left by sweaty summer beer drinkers have left some Dutch bar owners pining for the aroma of cigarette and cigar smoke two weeks after a smoking ban came into force.
Rain Showtechniek, a Dutch company that specialises in lighting, special stage effects and sound systems, has developed a machine that reproduces the traditional smell of bars and cafes.
"There is a need for a scent to mask the sweat and other unpleasant smells like stale beer," said Erwin van den Bergh, a spokesman for the company.
"People find that smells such as Mocha coffee, Havana cigars or cigarettes can be about good moods and different ideas of living well."
Unlike the real thing, the artificial tobacco smells do not have any health risks and does not linger in the hair or clothing of bar customers.
"Geurmachines" come in different sizes and prices, ranging from giant smell-makers, costing £3500 for exhibition halls to smaller and cheaper scent devices for cafés, priced at £440.
Over 50 different scents are offered for the new machines ranging from tobacco aromas to the smell of leather, freshly baked bread or new cars.
The Dutch smoking ban began on July 1.
Café owners in the Netherlands are joining religious movement known as the One and Universal Smokers Church of God, the Telegraaf reports on Wednesday.
‘We stand firmly behind the church’s teachings and that is smoking,’ Cor Busch, owner of the former Lindeboom café in Alkmaar told the paper. ‘Smokers are being discriminated against… but a beer and a cigarette belong together.’
Smoking has been banned in Dutch bars since July 1.
Several dozen bars have joined the movement which claims the Dutch constitution and European rules give it legitimacy under the right to freedom of religion, the paper says.
People who join the church get a membership card entitling them to smoke inside the building. Worshippers believe in the trinity of smoke, fire and ash and honour their god by smoking.
Church founder Michiel Eijsbouts says café owners who are trying to get round the ban on smoking will not be allowed to join. The church, he says, takes smoking very seriously.
‘It has ritual aspects, it is something you experience and we follow our faith very strictly,’ he told the Telegraaf.
+
Dutch cafes use fake cigarette smells to create atmosphere after smoking ban
Nasty smells left by sweaty summer beer drinkers have left some Dutch bar owners pining for the aroma of cigarette and cigar smoke two weeks after a smoking ban came into force.
Rain Showtechniek, a Dutch company that specialises in lighting, special stage effects and sound systems, has developed a machine that reproduces the traditional smell of bars and cafes.
"There is a need for a scent to mask the sweat and other unpleasant smells like stale beer," said Erwin van den Bergh, a spokesman for the company.
"People find that smells such as Mocha coffee, Havana cigars or cigarettes can be about good moods and different ideas of living well."
Unlike the real thing, the artificial tobacco smells do not have any health risks and does not linger in the hair or clothing of bar customers.
"Geurmachines" come in different sizes and prices, ranging from giant smell-makers, costing £3500 for exhibition halls to smaller and cheaper scent devices for cafés, priced at £440.
Over 50 different scents are offered for the new machines ranging from tobacco aromas to the smell of leather, freshly baked bread or new cars.
The Dutch smoking ban began on July 1.
It belongs to the story that he had been smoking for some years himself, but he quit when he realized how poor his stamina had become (he told he was out cross-country skiing, and at the top of a hill he had to stop because he started coughing quite nastily). 
