Athens - Greece's health minister Friday announced last- minute exemptions for some offices and casinos, ahead of a public smoking ban to due come into force next week. The Greeks are considered one of the last bastions of smoking in the EU, and the proposed ban has already run into considerable opposition.
Initially, minister Dimitris Avramopoulos had said authorities will enforce without exception smoking restrictions in public places, including offices, restaurants and bars as of July 1.
But with less than a week to go Avramopoulos announced eleventh- hour exceptions regarding offices and casinos.
All offices employing more than 50 people will have the right to maintain designated smoking rooms.
Smaller businesses with fewer than 50 employees will be obliged to ban smoking on their premises.
Casinos will be except from the ban as well live music venues, which will be required to construct 2-metre-high glass walls separating smokers from non-smokers.
Despite the lenient exceptions, the new law is expected to have a heavy impact on a nation where nearly 45 per cent of the adult population smokes, and where smoking in offices and cafes is seen as a traditional right.
The health ministry has only passed a partial ban for restaurants and bars, saying smaller establishements will become strictly non-smoking but larger businesses were allowed to designate smoking and non-smoking areas.
Under the new law, smoking will be banned in other public places such as schools, universities, state offices, hospitals and on all forms of public transport.
The ministry said the new law is aimed at saving the lives of an estimated 20,000 people who die of smoking-related diseases every year, adding that the habit costs the state more than 2 billion euros a year.
The imminent ban on smoking appears to have given some people the incentive to kick the habit, as some hospital clinics that help people quit are reporting waiting lists of up to three months.
