Greek government plans to ban smoking by 2010
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Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:51:00 GMT |
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Athens - Greece, Europe's biggest smoking nation, will be running out of places to light up by 2010 as the government will finally enforce European Union guidelines banning smoking in many public places. The Health Ministry said Wednesday it would gradually ban smoking in public places, such as cafes and restaurants by 2010 after previous partial bans were ignored. Two previous laws, forcing businesses, bars, cafes, restaurants and taxis to limit smoking to designated areas has largely been ignored. The government will also introduce heavy fines to anyone that does not abide by the regulations. Restaurants, bars and cafes will be fined 3,000 euros while smokers will be fined 300 euros. The new strict regulations will likely have a heavy impact on a nation where 45 per cent of the adult population are smokers, and where smoking in offices and cafes is seen as a favourite traditional pass-time. According to a recent survey, the stricter measures, aimed at protecting smokers and non-smokers, have the backing of most Greeks. Nearly eight in 10 Greeks believe that banning the habit from all public places is not an infringment on personal rights. Greece's smoking population is among the highest in the world and easily ourtranks other European countries such as France where 38 per cent of the population smoke. Authorities will also launch a marketing campaign aimed at preventing youths from taking up the habit. The number of smokers in Greece has gone up 10 per cent in the last 10 years, another survey has found, while many other developed nations are cutting back. Approximately one in three 12-18 year olds have tried smoking, while one in 10 is addicted, according to a 2007 survey.
Copyright DPA
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Smoking in pharmacies and hospitals
By:
vasilis ,
Wed, 25 Mar 2009 09:49:22 GMT
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This morning I visited a pharmacy on Crete and found the staff smoking heavily. This is a place where sick people come to buy medicines, and they have to breathe this poison. When I said something to the smoking woman behind the counter, she just laughed. I made it very clear I was not amused.
Tourists in Greece need to make their displeasure at having their health compromised by exposure to Greek smoking plainly known. I mean they need to complain, and complain loudly to the manager. Then leave the taverna or cafe or whatever it is, take your money elsewhere. Greeks need few things more than money (except perhaps their families) - the only way to change behavior in Greece is to hit their hip pocket. Similarly, the only way this ban is going to work is if heavy fines are given out unrelentingly until people get the idea that the government really means this. Here on Crete, people seem to think the new law is just a joke and that it will never be enforced.
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45 per cent? More like 90 per cent!
By:
vasilis ,
Sat, 14 Feb 2009 06:29:21 GMT
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".. have a heavy impact on a nation where 45 per cent of the adult population are smokers"
This official figure is a joke, like many official numbers from Greek authorities - I swear they just make up whet they think they can get away with with a straight face. Here on Crete and anywhere else I have visited in Greece almost all adults smoke, and smoke heavily. The few Greeks I know who do not smoke are invariably university educated and nearly always have lived in a developed country (Canada, German, England) for some years before returning to Greece. I'd say the real figures are closer to 90% of adult Greeks smoke, and more than half of those would be on more than two packs per day. I know Greeks who smoke three packs a day - they continually chain smoke.
It is difficult to comprehend just how far behind Greece is in this lethal health issue. And this has been deliberate - Greece has kept cigarette prices low and largely avoided any serious attempts at changing public behavior. The 2002 law has been a joke, almost completely ignored.
I pray for the sake of Greece's children -many of whom will suffer future crippling illnesses such as asthma, emphysema or cancer due to passive smoke inhalation - that this new law will actually get enforced.
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Greek government plans to ban smoking by 2010
By:
Sanja ,
Wed, 21 Jan 2009 10:26:49 GMT
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I can't believe that Greece, a EU member, hasn't done something about smoking in public places until now. Greeks smoke literary everywhere: in banks, post offices, libraries, supermarkets, cinemas, hospitals, public transportation... That doesn't happen even here in Bosnia, not to mention some more developed countries. I think it is extremely rude to smoke behind the counter and blow smoke into customer's face, not to mention that the place gets smelly and filled with smoke, like it's some kinda bar and not a serious institution. In my country, Bosnia & Herzegovina, which is also a Balkan country and has a lot of smokers, people do smoke in cafes in restaurants, but not in places like banks, shops, libraries etc. I have to say it is really uncivilised to smoke in those places and I didn't expect that from a EU member.
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Greece Finally Banning Public Smoking
By:
Pete ,
Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:47:33 GMT
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It looks like the Greeks need to do something about all of the unhealthy smoking going on in their country!
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