La Casita Opens First Partially Smoke-Free Terrace in Downtown
Restaurant La Casita is the first restaurant in downtown Voorschoten to make part of its patio smoke-free. This took place last Saturday on World No Smoking Day. While Hecht GGD Hollands Midden handed out small gifts to guests, owner Paul Bruijnzeels and Alderman Hubert Schokker raised a cup of coffee to celebrate.
Seeing others smoke encourages smoking. By making environments smoke-free, fewer young people start smoking, former smokers are better able to stay smoke-free, and harmful secondhand smoke is prevented. On May 31, World No Tobacco Day, the World Health Organization is drawing attention to this issue. Hecht GGD Hollands Midden is also taking action, as is the municipality of Voorschoten. For example, this past spring, the municipality held discussions with hospitality business owners in the village.
“It’s great to see that support for smoke-free zones is growing and that La Casita is the first to take this step,” says Alderman Hubert Schokker. “As a restaurant or bar owner, you’re free to choose your own smoking policy for your patio. At 2%, the number of smoke-free patios in the Netherlands is limited, even though, according to figures from the GGD, 80% of guests prefer to sit in a smoke-free zone. So it would be great if more business owners followed Paul’s example.”
Smoke-Free Generation
Smoking is the leading preventable cause of illness and death. In the Netherlands, 20,000 people die each year from the effects of smoking or secondhand smoke, while nearly 700,000 people suffer from diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and COPD. Yet young people are still taking up smoking or vaping. We’ve known for decades that smoking is harmful, but it’s also becoming increasingly clear just how harmful and addictive vaping is. That’s why the municipality is committed to a smoke-free generation, in which all children have the opportunity to grow up smoke-free.
In recent years, the municipality has focused primarily on areas frequented by children. As a result, all schools, daycare centers, and sports clubs are smoke-free, as are the Boy Scouts, the swimming pool, and the petting zoo. La Casita is the first restaurant or bar with a partially smoke-free patio in downtown Voorschoten. Together with the restaurant De Kleine Leeuw, this initiative is even unique in the Leiden region.
Quit smoking or vaping?
Would you like some help quitting smoking or vaping? Call the toll-free Stoplijn at 0800-1995 or visitwww.ikstopnu.nl, the independent website of the Trimbos Institute.