Pro-smoking lobby hopes to repeal ban by April
February 18, 2010
By Patrick Dewhurst
THE BAN on smoking inside public spaces came under renewed attack by pro-smoking MPs yesterday, who maintain that the law violates human rights.
DISY Deputy Andreas Themistocleous has so far enlisted six MPs from different parties in a bid to repeal the “harmful” law, which he says “goes against our culture and our human rights.”
Themistocleous told the Cyprus Mail yesterday, “This law does not just attack the tourist trade and bar and restaurant owners: it attacks all Cypriots. We hope to change the law by April and in any case before July.”
The pro-smoking group, which includes Phitos Constantinou (DIKO), Zacharias Koulias (DIKO), Andreas Kyprianou (DISY), Socratis Hasikos (DISY), Soteris Sampson (DISY) and Ritos Erotocritou (European Party), intends to raise the matter in the House Health Committee in the coming weeks.
“After a reasoned discussion,” Themistocleous added, “we will present it in parliament.”
Asked about health risks of passive smoking, he sought to play down the scientific studies conducted jointly by the Harvard and Cyprus University.
“Everybody has their opinion. If you say smoking is bad, what do you say about alcohol? This is a bigger problem.”
On the frontline in the anti-smoking camp is Greens deputy George Perdikis. He issued a statement yesterday saying, “Some people are trying to lift the ban and have been meeting with political party leaders.
“We want to send a message that this is unacceptable, and mobilise people to say ‘No’ to a change in the law.”
He added “If we keep silent then (the smokers lobby) will continue to meet with leaders.”
According to Perdikis, the law is currently enjoying the support of most politicians and members of the public but has become unpopular with bar, restaurant and hotel owners who claim to have lost revenue.
In a survey of bar owners last month, some estimated that their revenue had dropped by up to 40 per cent. Yesterday, however, one owner of a popular Nicosia bar said that the worst affected have reported 60 per cent losses.
The same owner started a petition against the smoking ban, but after receiving 600 signatures of customers and fellow bar owners in three days, was forced to suspend it until he had time to input the names.
At the centre of the debate are three issues: the impact on health of non-smokers, the financial cost and personal freedoms.
The health benefits of the law are supported by other European examples. In Britain a University College London report estimates that 400,000 people quit smoking within one year of the ban, saving an estimated 4,000 lives over the next ten years.
As for the economic impact, a Harvard/Cyprus International Institute for the Environment and Public Health project estimated that smoking cost the Cypriot taxpayer €221 million in 2006. If a ban is maintained, then the healthcare savings would likely outweigh the cost to bartenders.
Whether health and wealth are enough to dissuade the government from following in Greece and Croatia’s footsteps, where the ban has been lifted in some areas, remains to be seen.
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Cyprus smoking ban, is it working?
January 4, 2010
By Malcolm Channing
Firstly, I’ll put my cards on the table. I’ve never smoked apart from two experimental efforts, one at the age of 9 and another unsuccessful attempt at 16. However, I was brought up in a house where the ceilings were yellow from smoke and have never found a problem with drinking in pubs where you could cut the smoky atmosphere with a knife. On top of this I believe that people should be allowed the freedom to smoke and that people should also be allowed freedom from smoke.
The EU law now being re-enforced in south Cyprus and echoed in the north, is about smoking in public places. A public place is one in which all people have a right to be, both smokers and non-smokers. If this law was to be enforced in the same way that some UK councils ban alcohol then smoking would even have been banned in the open air. As ridiculous as this sounds, some Hull Councillors have tried to push the ban to include open air smoking.
In the south, GCs are wondering how government Ministers such as health minister Christos Patsalides will cope with the ban. Apparently he has ignored the law up to now and there are doubts that he will be seen smoking on the pavement alongside other government employees. In the north it is even less likely that the ban will be seriously enforced. MarieB, on the north Cyprus Cyprus44 forum reported the following:
“…you might find interesting that I went into Dorana Hotel to get hold of some facts and figures (on New Year’s Day) and seeing people smoking, I asked the manager what they intended to do. He (the Russian manager) was quite adamant that the law applied only to the SOUTH! I could not convince him… the Government is largely at fault as it has sent no notification whatsoever to any hotel or restaurant; there was nothing in the media and nothing on TV, so one might excuse the ignorance of some establishments, and maybe it is up to us to tell them that we KNOW what the law is. Well, I do, cos I made a point of finding out a year ago.”
The consensus in Cyprus seems to be that the smoking ban will be treated the same way as was the ban on using mobile phones while driving. It will be generally ignored by the police and will be flouted by not only government ministers but by the majority of smokers using restaurants and bars. Perhaps not this month, but gradually the smoking ban will be ignored
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Justice Minister tells police to get serious on smoking ban
 
March 18, 2007
Leo Leonidou

THE JUSTICE Minister has reminded all departments under his jurisdiction to follow strict anti-smoking laws in an ongoing crackdown on illegal smoking.

Sophocles Sophocleous has sent a memo to all police departments, as well as the Central Prisons, after numerous complaints were made by non-smokers, claiming they were forced to breathe in second-hand smoke when out and about.

By law, restaurants, caf?s, coffee shops, bars and clubs are allowed to have a designated smoking area as long as there is sufficient ventilation. No smoking areas must also be clearly marked and health warnings regarding the dangers of smoking in plain sight.

Establishments in violation of this article face a fine of £1,000 and/or six months imprisonment, while smokers themselves face an on the spot fine of £20 if caught smoking in a public building and £50 if caught smoking in a public vehicle.

In Nicosia, cafes have already started making the necessary changes, with Makarios Avenue’s popular Le Cafe closing briefly to refurbish their premises in line with the law.

Stasikratous Avenue’s trendy Pralina cafe has also set up a no smoking area and put up health warnings and signs depicting which areas are designated for smoking.

The law has been in place for several years, but is only now being strictly enforced.

Police spokeswoman Chrystalla Demetriou told the Mail that, “from February 25 until March 13, 95 people have been charged, the majority being in Limassol.”

Smoking is also prohibited in all vehicles used for public purposes, such as taxis and buses, with Demetriou also reminding drivers that it is illegal to smoke if carrying a passenger under 17 years of age.

According to Phileleftheros newspaper, Sophocleous reprimanded several police stations, saying it was wrong for their officers to book people for illegal smoking, while they themselves continued to do so in their offices. The paper questions who will be able to report officers breaking the law.

Commenting on the smoking directive, the Governor of the Central Prisons, Michalis Hajidemetriou, explained: “We have special areas within our different blocks that house convicts who have requested no-smoking cells.”

The Health Ministry, meanwhile, has requested that there is no let-up in checks to combat smoking in food production areas, caf?s, restaurants and pubs and clubs. They have also reportedly urged traffic wardens to keep an eye out for people smoking while carrying children in their cars and to report them.

Demetriou noted that, “Chief of Police Charalambos Koulentis has sent police departments ten separate memos since 2004, giving directions regarding the implementation of the law. All the necessary measures are being taken.”

Nevertheless, the law may be harder to enforce than the authorities think. At the end of February, a police source told us: “The law is there and we’re supposed to implement it all the time, but this is Cyprus and smoking is practically second nature to most people so it’s difficult to carry out a campaign.”

Health Commissioner Marcos Kyprianou has said that, “the majority of people in Cyprus are in fact non-smokers and they should claim the right to breathe smoke free air.”
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