Habits

The health ministry is starting to listen about proposals from the non-government sector to impose more drastic sanctions for breaching the ban on smoking in indoor public places. In the event of a systematic breach of the smoking ban, the facility will be shut down for a specified period of time. This includes amendments to the Health Act, prepared by the Ministry of Health.

The government is considering measures to replace the current cigarette packages with “uniform” packaging to discourage smoking, Health Minister Ahmet Demircan said on Feb. 9. 

For 10 years - from 2007 to 2016, illegal cigarette trade in Bulgaria has accumulated revenues for the criminal world between 2.5 and 3.5 billion leva, a report by the Institute for Market Economics (IME) writes.

Greece's health ministry has asked the police to stigmatize punishment for citizens who smoke in their cars or in the presence of children.

The request was made on the basis of the Law on the banning of cigarette smoking in public places. The law provides for a fine of 1,500 euros for everybody who smokes in his private car and 3,000 euros for smoking in an official or state car.

A future without smoking is possible, Philip Morris International CEO Andre Calantzopoulos tells Kathimerini in an interview in which he notes that "today we have the scientific and technological ability to offer smokers better alternatives that have the potential to reduce the harmful consequences of smoking."

The ban on smoking indoors is not respected by many establishments. This shows a Nova TV report, made with a hidden camera in random places. Health inspectors who go into restaurants as secret clients have been asking if they could smoke.

French cinema is full of images of stars such as Bridget Bardo and Gerard Depardio, who impress with a cool vision, reinforced by a cigarette in one hand. But that may change as the debate about whether smoking needs to be displayed on the big screen is again discussed in the country, The Local newspaper quoted by Expert.bg has reported.

“The Commission welcomes all measures taken by EU countries that deglamorise smoking, and reduce uptake, particularly amongst young people,” European Commission spokesperson Anca Paduraru said.

While in Europe in recent years there has been a tendency of a gradual reduction in the number of smokers in restaurants and bars, there is more and more in our country, one of the reasons being that the ban is not applied seriously. This is what CBT Chief of Oncology in Sofia and former Health Minister Dr. Stefan Konstantinov and Ms.

Pope Francis has issued an order to ban the sale of cigarettes on the Vatican's territory in 2018, Curia spokesman Greg Burke said on Thursday.