By Jody K. Biehl

Tis the season in Germany. The smoking season, that is. Not that it ever lets up in this cigarette-obsessed land. But now, with Christmas decor glittering in shop windows and the air icy, it's even more tempting to shake a chill by lighting up. And Germans are doing it. A lot. Even more than most Europeans. Especially the women. While the rest of Europe works to cut the habit, Germany remains stubbornly - almost blindly - addicted.

"When it comes to tobacco control, Germany is an underdeveloped country," said Luk Joossens, a tobacco control expert for the European Network for Smoking Prevention and a consultant to the World Health Organization. "It's sad that such educated people can act so stupidly." The numbers tell it all. Germany has more smokers on its books than any European country other than Greece and Spain. Half the women in Germany aged 15 to 30 are smokers, reports the World Health Organization. And, in the former East Germany, smoking has gone up threefold among women since the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. Take a walk on any street in Berlin and you will see that, as in 1950s America, cigarettes still function like accessories -- as necessary as a watch, a scarf or a bracelet. They're still used for gesturing, flirting or as a means of appearing coolly disinterested. Enter a bar or restaurant and prepare for a smoky onslaught. The worst part? No one seems to mind. Except the tourists. The Berlin Tourism Office regularly fields queries about where to find smoke-free restaurants.

Contrast these images with ones in Ireland, Norway and Malta. These countries have all banned smoking in the workplace, including bars and restaurants. And people are surviving. Some might even say thriving. Cigarette sales in Ireland have dropped nine percent since the ban began six months ago. "When I brought up the idea of smoking bans in workplaces in 2003, it was opposed by most member states," David Byrne, who stepped down last week after five years as the European Union's first commissioner of health, told the International Herald Tribune. "Now, almost all agree." Germany, he said, is not one of them.

Lost in a cloud of cigarette smoke

Sweden is set to ban smoking in the workplace next summer. And Britain will soon outlaw smoking in restaurants and pubs that serve food. Even in France, where Gauloises were once as prevalent in cafes as café, times are changing. Five years ago the French only lackadaisically enforced restrictions on indoor smoking, now they are doing so with gusto.

So why is Germany, home of righteous environmentalism, so behind the times when it comes to smoking? And how can a people so adamant about health that they refuse to eat genetically modified foods -- which have no known health risks -- be so flippant about cigarettes, which have been proven to cause cancer?

The answer, says Joossens, is money. And power. As it once was in the United States and the United Kingdom, tobacco companies are political heavyweights and the German government "isn't willing to give that up," he said. Every year, tobacco companies spend over three million on advertising in Germany alone. Much of that, he says, is directed at youths. Some companies have even hit ethical rock bottom by rewarding girls who buy cigarettes with free cosmetic samples. Of course, the companies don't tell the girls that smoking causes premature wrinkles and lines.

Their efforts seem to be working. German 12-15 year-olds are smoking twice as much as they did 10 years ago, with 21 percent of girls smoking and 18 percent of boys, according to WHO figures. Among 16-19 year-olds, 45 percent now smoke. While smoking is becoming decidedly uncool in the rest of the world, German youths are still captivated.

Here's a telling scene. Two Berlin teenagers -- one with blonde hair, a nose ring and jeans so tight she could barely breathe were waiting for a Berlin subway last week and decided to light up. As they shared a cigarette, the girls flipped through the latest edition of the hip city magazine Prinz. Inside, thinner, hipper girls and hunky boys flirted over cigarettes in countless ads. One ad -- for Pall Mall cigarettes -- featured a New York street scene. The slogan read, "the taste of New York." The problem? New York's current taste is decidedly smoke-free. Smoking was banned in public places in March 2003.

In addition to teenagers, women from former Eastern European countries have proven the most susceptible to smoking ads and the aura of independence they believe cigarettes give them. "You have to remember that advertising didn't exist before in these countries. At least not the kind we have now," says Joossens. "And cigarettes weren't as prominent as they are now. After 1990 when there was a liberalization of the market, the tobacco companies came in quickly and were a big draw, a sign of the West." His job, he said, is to counter that influence.

It's not easy. Especially when a big power like "Germany just doesn't play its role," he said.

A nicotine nest

Essentially, Germany today is a smoker's paradise. Cigarette machines make comparatively cheap cigarettes available to all, few places ban smoking and the population is devoid of the militant keep-your-smoke-out-of-my-lungs mentality pervading the US. In a move seen as big in Berlin (and almost laughable elsewhere) the city's schools voted in October to ban smoking on campus. But even that ban has a soft side. Kids over 16 are allowed to smoke if they have their parents' permission.

In a report issued last month, The European Network for Smoking Prevention excoriated Germany for failing to implement anti-smoking measures recommended by the World Bank. Germany, the report said, failed at almost every level and ranked among the lowest 10 countries in terms of smoking prevention policy. The criteria assessed include: tax increases on cigarettes, smoke-free policies in offices, bars and restaurants, anti-tobacco advertising and clear warnings on cigarette packages.

To be fair, in March, Germany did add hike up the cost of cigarettes by 32 cents a pack, bringing the average cost of a pack to $4.90. They will go up another 32 cents in December and another 32 cents in Sept. 2005. In France, a pack of Marlboros costs $6.58, in England $8.60 and in Norway $10.

Leaving its own borders aside, Germany also fought an EU initiative to ban tobacco ads in its member states. The ban made it through anyway and will take effect in 2005. "If the influence of Germany was limited to Germany, it would be fine, they could suffocate themselves," Joossens said. "But they are challenging every initiative at the European level. It's very discouraging."

One of the most talked about EU initiatives began in October when the EU called on governments to put gruesome pictures of cancerous growths and blackened lungs on cigarette packs. Germany, again, dragged its feet on the proposal, he said.