Greece to re-evaluate smoking ban
The smoking ban in Greece is not effective, according to Greek officials, who said that they will launch a review of the law that was passed earlier this year, following complaints from non-smokers at home and pressure from the European Union.
Greek health minister Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou told of “great gaps in the application of the smoking ban” as many establishments were simply not complying, the Greek Kathimerini reported on November 11 2009.
Similar complications were observed also in Croatia where on September 10 2009 the outcry against the ban went as far as to have it partially repealed.
Against the backdrop of the general population flouting the ban, and establishments refusing to apply the law, Panayiotis Behrakis, head of the Greek co-ordinating committee against smoking, said that the government should not allow any exceptions to the decree. Some establishments could legally apply for smoking licences, but Behrakis says the ban should be absolute. Additionally, the price of cigarettes in Greece should be increased in an attempt to deter youngsters from picking up the habit. Greece, like Bulgaria, has some of the cheapest cigarettes in the European Union.
Meanwhile, pubs and clubs in the Greek capital that have applied for a smoking licence, 2,200 in all, have encountered red tape and cumbersome bureaucracy and delays in processing their applications.
By contrast, in Croatia, the local government revised the ban because cafe owners complained that it was severely harming business. The U-turn comes in the tourism-dependent country which has more than 5800 restaurants and almost 10 000 bars – mostly cafes – with more than 100 000 employees.
Since the anti-smoking law was adopted in May 2009, establishments in Croatia, especially those without terraces, reported a “significant decrease in business,” an association of about 16 000 owners said, according to the state-run HINA news agency.
In Bulgaria, the dispute is likely to be just as heated. The new legislation is fiercely contested by both sides as more than 40 percent of Bulgaria’s 7.6 million population are believed to smoke. The ban, which takes effect on June 1, 2010, is part of an anti-smoking government strategy that includes price hikes on cigarettes and media campaigns.
November 12, 2009 Sofiaecho
Tags: smoking crise
