Greece’s smoking ban not working, say officials

By on February 5, 2010 in news

imagesMore than six months after Greece introduced a ban on smoking in public places, officials were conceding that the third attempt to stamp out the habit is failing, it was reported Friday. Greece, one of the last bastions of smoking in the European Union, introduced a ban on smoking in public places on July 1.
According to a report in the Greek daily Kathimerini, despite awareness campaigns that were initially well received by the public in the countdown to the ban, the necessary reforms have not been carried out to ensure that the restrictions are enforced.
As a result, smoking continues in most bars and cafes, public offices and hospitals, according to Panayiotis Behrakis, the head of the steering committee set up to oversee the implementation of the restrictions.
“The whole country is smoking,” Behrakis was quoted as saying to Kathimerini.
Under the new law, anyone caught lighting up will now be subject to a 1,000 euros (1,400 dollars) fine, whilst establishments that do not comply with the new regulations risk losing licences.
Britain, Ireland, France, Germany and other EU states have already introduced public smoking bans.
But, considering Greece’s patchy track record for implementing new laws, it appears that the new law, which allows for some loopholes and is largely unpopular has proved to be unsuccessful.
One of the problems seems to be that bar and cafe owners have submitted incomplete applications for revised operating licenses.
Small cafes and restaurants with premises measuring less than 70 square metres have had to choose between becoming tobacco-free or admitting only patrons who smoke.
In addition, companies with more than 50 employees will be able to set up dedicated smoking areas on their premises.
Similar laws introduced in 2002 and 2003 went largely unheeded in a country where nearly 45 per cent of adults smoke and where puffing on cigarettes in offices and cafes is seen as a traditional pastime.
Each year, 20,000 people in the nation of 11 million die from tobacco-related illnesses, according to European Commission figures that place Greece ahead of Bulgaria at 39 per cent and Latvia, 37 per cent of the share of adult smokers.
A 2007 survey found the number of smokers in Greece had risen 10 per cent in a decade while other developed nations were kicking the habit.



  • Yannis

    You have to understand cynical Mediterranean politics. The July 1 ban was never intended to work. This is obvious because (a) there has been almost no enforcement, (b) confusing details of the law were never clarified until the night before it came into force, (c) the informational campaign before the law came into effect was totally inadequate. Greek governments are quite capable of enforcing laws when they feel like it but they have no interest in changing health behavior. In the heaviest smoking country in the world, with a rapidly aging population who are a time bomb of smoking-related illness, and a health system that has been on the verge of financial collapse for years, this situation is little short of criminally negligent on the part of successive Greek governments. There is almost no effective public health education in Greece and many Greeks do not understand or accept the dangers of passive smoking, especially for children and those with respiratory illnesses. Greek doctors, too, are to blame for their spinelessness – apparently showing no leadership and taking no advocacy role in this issue, unlike most doctors in the UK, the US and Australia who have been passionately anti smoking.

    With Greece’s huge debt now under the international spotlight, it’s time for the EU and other groupings to consider the huge financial costs of Greece’s abject failure to protect both its citizens and tourists from the life threatening hazards of passive smoke.

  • Kostas

    It’s a real shame, there are Greeks who are actually proud of this disgraceful “achievement”. They think it shows their rebellious spirit…….. It just shows how backward we really are.