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Europe|Greeks Are Defying an Indoor Smoking Ban, Even After 14 Years
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/28/world/europe/greece-indoor-smoking-ban.html
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The country, which has one of Europe’s highest smoking rates, is also resisting a wider push for outdoor bans.
Dec. 28, 2024, 12:01 a.m. ET
Greeks smoke more than most other Europeans, and even 14 years after Greece banned smoking in indoor public places, it is not uncommon to see people light up in bars and clubs.
So as the European Union urges countries to extend smoking bans to outdoor spaces as part of its efforts to “achieve a tobacco-free generation” by 2040, Greece’s official response has been: No, thanks.
Last year, a health profile of Greece from the European Commission reported that about a fifth of the country’s deaths in 2019 could be attributed to tobacco smoking, including direct and secondhand. Still, many in Greece are sticking to cigarettes — from habit, defiance or simply realizing that they can get away with it.
“When a smoker knows there are gaps in the system they can exploit to smoke, they’re going to do it,” Stathis Papachristou, a psychologist and an official at the National Public Health Organization’s smoking cessation office, said in an interview.
These days, more than a third of Greeks smoke — second in the European Union after Bulgaria — according to the European Commission.
Greece banned smoking in all indoor public areas in 2010, and the country’s statistics agency has recorded a significant drop in smoking. But the ban was widely flouted, so in 2019 a tougher law was introduced. It included fines of 100 euros (about $105) for patrons smoking indoors and up to €10,000 for businesses, along with a complaints hotline.
