The Local Germany

One in five German schoolkids have smoked shisha tobacco: survey

Tue, 12 Dec 2017 10:48:38 +0100

22 percent of German pupils between grades five and ten have smoked tobacco via water pipes, a new survey has shown.

'Germany should raise smoking age to 21'

Tue, 05 Nov 2013 14:19:00 +0100

Calls were made this week for Berlin to follow New York state in raising the legal smoking age to 21. Johannes Spatz of anti-smoking campaign group Forum Rauchfrei told The Local why this will not be easy.

Use of 'designer drugs' on the rise in Germany

Wed, 29 May 2013 13:34:00 +0200

Synthetic "designer drugs," with names such as Extreme Summer, Fly Cherry or Manga XXL are increasingly finding users in Germany, especially among young men, a new government report says.

Tobacco industry opposes greater warnings despite increased sales

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 18:06:00 +0200

Tobacco executives are worried about requirements for more warnings on cigarettes as well as higher tax rates and a growing amount of black market tobacco, all things they say will eat into revenue.

Report: higher tobacco tax only helps smugglers

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 16:04:00 +0200

Raising tobacco tax only encourages smokers to buy illegal cigarettes, according to a new customs report leaked to the media.

Cops losing tobacco smuggling battle

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 13:57:00 +0200

Untaxed cigarettes and tobacco are costing the German government an untold amount of money in lost tax revenue each year, and as new fronts in tobacco smuggling open, authorities seem powerless to stem their market penetration.

MPs push for national smoking ban

Thu, 26 May 2011 11:31:00 +0200

Bundestag members from all sides of politics are joining forces to push for uniform anti-smoking laws nationwide, going up against entrenched opposition in many parts of the country.

Pub smoking still widespread despite ban

Tue, 03 May 2011 17:15:00 +0200

Despite widespread smoking bans across Germany, more than four out of five corner pubs and bars still have patrons smoking inside, a study released Tuesday has found.

Cigarettes price rise set to leave smokers fuming

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 16:51:00 +0200

Smokers are set to cough up an average of 20 cents more per pack from the beginning of next month, the tobacco industry has announced, blaming rising costs and government taxes.

Smokers to pay for industry tax breaks

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 09:21:00 +0200

Smokers will cough up more money under a government plan to hike the tax on cigarettes to pay for an extension on tax breaks for heavy industry, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble announced Sunday night.

Booze and butts a human right, drug commissioner says

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:25:00 +0200

Germany’s drug policy commissioner Mechthild Dyckmans defended welfare allowances for alcohol and cigarettes on Thursday, saying that little indulgences were a human right.

Germans smoking less, but still drinking copiously

Thu, 08 Apr 2010 12:43:00 +0200

Fewer ciggies but another beer or two? Germans are smoking less but still drinking plenty of alcohol, according a report published by the DHS centre for addiction studies this week.

Higher tobacco taxes push smokers to contraband cigarettes

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:10:00 +0100

An increasing number of German smokers are turning to contraband cigarettes in response to higher tobacco taxes, according to research published on Monday.

Beer sales fizzle to lowest level on record

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:25:00 +0200

Beer sales for the first six months of 2009 have dropped to their lowest level since the Federal Statistics Office (Destatis) started keeping track of the sales in 1991, the Wiesbaden office reported Thursday.

Health insurers reject treating smokers as sick people

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 10:02:00 +0200

Health insurance companies have rejected a suggestion by the German Medical Association that smokers be treated as sick people.

Medical association calls smoking an illness

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 13:46:00 +0200

The German Medical Association is pushing to have tobacco addiction recognized as an illness, Dortmund daily Ruhr Nachrichten reported on Monday.

Why Angie ain't no Maggie

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 20:11:00 +0200

Forbes magazine recently proclaimed Angela Merkel to be the most powerful woman in the world. Roger Boyes, the Berlin correspondent for British daily The Times, explains why he finds it a strange choice.

Igniting Europe's smoking revolution

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:57:00 +0200

Now that small German pubs can once again allow patrons to light up, Roger Boyes, the Berlin correspondent for British daily The Times, hopes Germany could soon be at the vanguard of Europe’s anti-anti-smoking movement.

Germans favour national smoking ban

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 16:16:00 +0200

A wide majority of Germans want a comprehensive smoking ban instead of state-by-state rules, German newspaper Bild am Sonntag reported on Sunday.

German high court overturns smoking ban

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:46:00 +0200

In a ruling likely to have nationwide implications, Germany's high court on Wednesday ruled that a new smoking ban in the states of Baden-Württemberg and Berlin was unconstitutional.