01-07-2009, 10:46 PM
In July, the new smoking ban for bars and restaurants in the Netherlands took effect, but it won't curtail patrons' right to smoke marijuana in Amsterdam's coffee shops (where they can buy up to 5 grams a day to smoke on the premises). And, just as the ban became law, the Dutch special-effects company Rain Showtechniek began selling bars a machine (for the equivalent of about $900) that, for nostalgia, replicates the scent of traditional, cigarette-smoked air (but which does not damage health or linger in clothing or hair.) [USA Today, 6-27-08] [Daily Telegraph (London), 7-14-08]