It will be difficult to be a smoker and municipal employee in Arvidsjaur in the future. Smoking must not be done during working hours and if one is to smoke during working hours one must flex out. However, you can get a cigarette on the lunch break at the designated place but not in work clothes.

"The purpose of the Tobacco Act is that no one should be exposed to tobacco smoke," says the municipal council Sara Lundberg (S).

But can one persuade a smoker in this way?

- No, but you can decide under what conditions you can smoke.

PUBLIC HEALTH

The background to the municipality's guidelines is the tobacco law that came into force last summer. The law means that it is forbidden to smoke outdoors in certain public places. The municipal management believes that the tobacco policy only clarifies what already applies in the municipality; a formal regulation of smoking in the workplace.

What does the municipality gain from this?

- Public health, replies the municipal council Sara Lundberg.

Witch hunt

Åsa Norén is a municipal employee and smoker. She has a different view on the tobacco policy.

- It feels like a little witch hunt. You should stamp out as soon as you smoke and it will be that you do not smoke as often, she says.

How far away do you have to go when smoking?

- A few hundred meters.

Does this help you to quit?

- No, it does not. I still smoke when I get home.