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Tue, May 22 2012
Indifferent to smoking
Photo: Nikolai Doichinov
June 2010 would have been a milestone moment in Bulgaria’s public health history, given that this was the month when the full ban on smoking in public was due to come into force. Unfortunately for non-smokers and for those keen on having their evening drink or meal in a smoke-free environment, the ban will not happen. Not for at least another year, Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov said.
This was announced in February when Dyankov said that the ban, however logical and healthy it might seem, would be postponed to the beginning of 2011. Dyankov was only the messenger, announcing a decision already discussed by the ruling party’s majority in Parliament.
Postponing the ban was meant to help Bulgaria’s restaurant and hotel business recover from the economic crisis, Dyankov said, seeking to explain the u-turn in his views.
From the moment he took office in the summer of 2009, Dyankov has been one of the most active campaigners against not just smoking in public, but against smoking in general.
He managed to get Prime Minister Boiko Borissov on his side, with Borissov saying that he had cut down on smoking, smoking only cigars, and underlining that smoking was a bad thing in itself.
Rule abiding nation?
No doubt the years that Dyankov spent living in the US helped him develop strong views against smoking and against those who violate the rules.
Unfortunately, Bulgarians fail on both accounts. Smoking has been part of Bulgarians’ culture for decades and it was not until the past 15 years, when the country started its integration into the European Union, that smoking started seriously to come under fire. The numerous environmental and ecological organisations, movements and parties, that have emerged in the past few years, also helped spread the news that smoking is a bad thing.
Smoking is by no means a habit limited to Bulgaria, but what probably makes things different is that while in other countries people respect the smoking ban because of the high fines, in Bulgaria few people fear being sanctioned, simply because restrictions are seldom enforced.
This reality was reflected in the words of one of the leaders of ruling party GERB’s group in Parliament, Iskra Fidosova, who said that there was a need for a better system for banning smoking because the proposed new restrictions would not be followed anyway. Prime Minister Boiko Borissov was even more direct, saying "there is no way for the ban to happen, not now, not ever; we (Bulgarians) know ourselves well after all".
The principle is, no one will obey the ban, so what is the point in imposing it? The June 2010 ban was approved by the previous Parliament, in 2009, and inherited by the current Government. GERB decided, rather than attempting to make it work, to abandon the ban.
GERB, however, is not the only party to be blamed for trying to escape the smoking ban issue, because when the three former ruling parties voted for the law in 2009, they decided that the ban should come into force only after a year had passed. By doing so, they bequeathed the issue to their successors in government, GERB.
It’s the crisis
The decision to postpone the ban by a year was not taken solely because of a lack of means to enforce it effectively. The reason given was that, amid an economic crisis, banning smoking in restaurants would mean that an industry already in deep difficulty would be pushed over the edge altogether.
The question of the effect that a smoking ban has on restaurants, bars and coffee shops is central to the debate in every country, economic crisis or none. In Bulgaria, fears that restaurant business would suffer from the ban were expressed three or four years ago when restaurants were told to reserve part of their premises for non-smokers.
Back then, there was no economic crisis, and in fact Bulgaria’s economy was on the rise. Furthermore, surveys on the effect of the smoking ban are contradictory, and findings may well depend on who was behind the survey. From this point of view, linking the issue to the current economic crisis is more a matter of politics than logic, playing on people’s fears because of the crisis.
One hospitality industry organisation said that, on principle, a ban on smoking would actually help establishments save money, because unlimited smoking meant having to install powerful ventilation systems and to do renovations every couple of years, but because of the crisis it was better that the ban was postponed.
This year holds a lot of challenges for the Government and Bulgarians in terms of smoking, and the ban is just one. The tobacco industry is likely to be harder hit by the new prices that are to come into effect when producers have to pay new excises as they run out of old excise stamps, than by the ban itself.
Raising excise duties has never been a popular move, and now it seems that the Government has decided that adding a smoking ban to the package would be a little bit too much for smokers in one year, especially since, according to some surveys, there are three million active smokers in Bulgaria.
Some coincidences
The day that GERB MPs announced their decision to cut back the full ban on smoking, the media found out that one of the MPs behind the idea, Emil Dimitrov, elected to Parliament in July 2009, previously owned half of a company trading in cigarettes.
Dimitrov is a former chairperson of the Association of Tobacco Producers and Traders, which puts him in a delicate position, with it being alleged that he was one of the Bulgarian tobacco industry’s lobbyists in Parliament.
In his defence, Dimitrov can say that he was not among the seven GERB MPs who introduced the amendments. However, he was the first one, in 2009, to speak about modifying the ban. Naturally his former business position and GERB’s u-turn on the smoking ban could just be a coincidence.
Public reaction
As might have been expected, tobacco business representatives, restaurant and bar owners and industry organisations welcomed the news of the amendments.
The Health Ministry, the institution which by law is obliged to look after the nation’s health, has so far not taken any official position on the amendments.
Notably, the amendments sparked no major public reaction, unlike the protests against the legislative amendments related to GMOs, for example. With the exception of a few online forums and groups on social networks, there was basically no organised public reaction to the news. This made it scant surprise that the voice of corporate interests was heard, while public indifference to the issue might suggest that Bulgarians do not actually consider smoking in public an issue worth dealing with, or at least not at this stage.
This was announced in February when Dyankov said that the ban, however logical and healthy it might seem, would be postponed to the beginning of 2011. Dyankov was only the messenger, announcing a decision already discussed by the ruling party’s majority in Parliament.
Postponing the ban was meant to help Bulgaria’s restaurant and hotel business recover from the economic crisis, Dyankov said, seeking to explain the u-turn in his views.
From the moment he took office in the summer of 2009, Dyankov has been one of the most active campaigners against not just smoking in public, but against smoking in general.
He managed to get Prime Minister Boiko Borissov on his side, with Borissov saying that he had cut down on smoking, smoking only cigars, and underlining that smoking was a bad thing in itself.
Rule abiding nation?
No doubt the years that Dyankov spent living in the US helped him develop strong views against smoking and against those who violate the rules.
Unfortunately, Bulgarians fail on both accounts. Smoking has been part of Bulgarians’ culture for decades and it was not until the past 15 years, when the country started its integration into the European Union, that smoking started seriously to come under fire. The numerous environmental and ecological organisations, movements and parties, that have emerged in the past few years, also helped spread the news that smoking is a bad thing.
Smoking is by no means a habit limited to Bulgaria, but what probably makes things different is that while in other countries people respect the smoking ban because of the high fines, in Bulgaria few people fear being sanctioned, simply because restrictions are seldom enforced.
This reality was reflected in the words of one of the leaders of ruling party GERB’s group in Parliament, Iskra Fidosova, who said that there was a need for a better system for banning smoking because the proposed new restrictions would not be followed anyway. Prime Minister Boiko Borissov was even more direct, saying "there is no way for the ban to happen, not now, not ever; we (Bulgarians) know ourselves well after all".
The principle is, no one will obey the ban, so what is the point in imposing it? The June 2010 ban was approved by the previous Parliament, in 2009, and inherited by the current Government. GERB decided, rather than attempting to make it work, to abandon the ban.
GERB, however, is not the only party to be blamed for trying to escape the smoking ban issue, because when the three former ruling parties voted for the law in 2009, they decided that the ban should come into force only after a year had passed. By doing so, they bequeathed the issue to their successors in government, GERB.
It’s the crisis
The decision to postpone the ban by a year was not taken solely because of a lack of means to enforce it effectively. The reason given was that, amid an economic crisis, banning smoking in restaurants would mean that an industry already in deep difficulty would be pushed over the edge altogether.
The question of the effect that a smoking ban has on restaurants, bars and coffee shops is central to the debate in every country, economic crisis or none. In Bulgaria, fears that restaurant business would suffer from the ban were expressed three or four years ago when restaurants were told to reserve part of their premises for non-smokers.
Back then, there was no economic crisis, and in fact Bulgaria’s economy was on the rise. Furthermore, surveys on the effect of the smoking ban are contradictory, and findings may well depend on who was behind the survey. From this point of view, linking the issue to the current economic crisis is more a matter of politics than logic, playing on people’s fears because of the crisis.
One hospitality industry organisation said that, on principle, a ban on smoking would actually help establishments save money, because unlimited smoking meant having to install powerful ventilation systems and to do renovations every couple of years, but because of the crisis it was better that the ban was postponed.
This year holds a lot of challenges for the Government and Bulgarians in terms of smoking, and the ban is just one. The tobacco industry is likely to be harder hit by the new prices that are to come into effect when producers have to pay new excises as they run out of old excise stamps, than by the ban itself.
Raising excise duties has never been a popular move, and now it seems that the Government has decided that adding a smoking ban to the package would be a little bit too much for smokers in one year, especially since, according to some surveys, there are three million active smokers in Bulgaria.
Some coincidences
The day that GERB MPs announced their decision to cut back the full ban on smoking, the media found out that one of the MPs behind the idea, Emil Dimitrov, elected to Parliament in July 2009, previously owned half of a company trading in cigarettes.
Dimitrov is a former chairperson of the Association of Tobacco Producers and Traders, which puts him in a delicate position, with it being alleged that he was one of the Bulgarian tobacco industry’s lobbyists in Parliament.
In his defence, Dimitrov can say that he was not among the seven GERB MPs who introduced the amendments. However, he was the first one, in 2009, to speak about modifying the ban. Naturally his former business position and GERB’s u-turn on the smoking ban could just be a coincidence.
Public reaction
As might have been expected, tobacco business representatives, restaurant and bar owners and industry organisations welcomed the news of the amendments.
The Health Ministry, the institution which by law is obliged to look after the nation’s health, has so far not taken any official position on the amendments.
Notably, the amendments sparked no major public reaction, unlike the protests against the legislative amendments related to GMOs, for example. With the exception of a few online forums and groups on social networks, there was basically no organised public reaction to the news. This made it scant surprise that the voice of corporate interests was heard, while public indifference to the issue might suggest that Bulgarians do not actually consider smoking in public an issue worth dealing with, or at least not at this stage.
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I am a non smoker and feel the smoking ban is a bad idea. You find that even when there is an area for non smokers most sit with the smokers anyway. Look at the Uk, the pubs are dead and when the smokers go outside, you either have a choice of sitting alone most of the night or going out standing with them anyway. Have a room for non smokers, or like others have said let the owners choose. Then everyone is happy, and if you know that an establishment is smoking, you know not to take your children [...]
Read the full comment in. It always has to go from one extreme to the other! Pubs in the Uk arent the same anymore, lets hope they dont ruin it for bulgaria too!
nobody will srop smoking until the police make check and give fine to the smokers..but policemen self smoke..
Valeri, that's very sweet of you to say. I try to be reasonable and see things from various sides and to appreciate others' views (I don't always succeed though--haha!) My husband's a pretty happy guy. I'll tell him you said I was reasonable though....he'll get such a kick out of that...lol :) He's also been very happy to be home in BG, he's been overseas for a long time. We were in another western country (not the U.S.) for several years so coming here was a really welcome change for us.
About food in U.S. schools [...]
Read the full comment today, I have to say I was surprised at what they are serving kids in schools these days. It's been a long time since I was in school, but knowing parents who have kids in school there, it's a bit shocking what "food" they can choose from. I hope that doesn't happen here. We find the food here to be excellent and the fruits and vegetables are far superior to anywhere else we've lived.
As a non-smoker, I'm mostly bothered by the real chain smokers. One cigarette, ok. But, 5-6 in an hour is a little overboard. I was on a date and this girl smoked a pack in less than two hours! Needless to say, very cute, but I just couldn't get beyond the smoking 2-3 packs a day smoking.
Living here for five years, I've learned how to deal with it in Bulgaria, but having a real non-smoking section would be helpful and practical solution. A non-smoking section of two tables next to twenty smoking tables doesn't exactly [...]
Read the full comment work.
Valeri, you're totally right on the bans, crappy foods in American schools, parenting, and the idea for a real non-smoking section. People hate the laws initially, but then they realize they're not so bad. They do have an effect on people's behaviors. Everyone in my family smokes, but they never smoke during dinner anymore, and they only smoke in one room of their house or outside.
There are exceptions. Prohibition with alcohol is a complete failure usually. And Katia, the salt ban is CRAZY! I know all about it.
For Vessela, I'm tired of hearing so many people like you trashing Bulgaria. Step up and be part of the solution. Just bitching about how bad things are has to end. Bulgaria doesn't need Bulgarians and expats like you anymore.
FYI: Jaime Oliver has a great family cookbook you should check out. I just got it for a gift and love it.
Bulgarians, grow up! Tobacco is out! Inteligent people do not smoke.
Governments are not in the business of keeping us -the little people -healthy and happy-otherwise McDonalds and the GMO's wouldn't be a dollar versus 10 times more expensive and healthy organic food. Any time they try to ban something, we should take it with a grain of salt (if salt is not banned that is). Mexicans in the US talk nothing but good things about their crappy country while we shoot our mouths how horrible Bulgaria is. Very sad. Lifestyle, food,vaccines,etc has more to do with the epidemic of chronic illness and cancer today than cigarettes ever did or ever [...]
Read the full comment will. So what is the real reson for the ban,eh?
Btw smokng bans can be expensive.
Health Care cost goes up with less smokers. Yes it's true. Death from smoking related cancer is relatively quick and cheap in terms of medical cost. It also tends to take place earlier in life, before all those other "expensive" illnesses start happening, like chronic conditions which are very costly.
As a the very anti-socialist person that I am,I have to be honest in that I wouldn't mind more bans.
My kids went to prep schools, where none fed anyone. Kids bring their own snack from home and [...]
Read the full comment that's that. Basic parental responsibility - to feed and drive your kids! The government schools in the US push so much junk on their kids that it would be good for our government to outlaw sodas and junck from schools.
Perhaps some sort of smoking license, like that for booze - let's say that it is 75% that smoke, then there should be regional quota for awarding smoking license for the establishments based on that, so 25% to be nonsmoking.
Also any place where children are likely to visit, like a pastry shop and such.
I agree with Katia on some level, but then governemtal involvement could also mean better society.
Take Haiti's earthquake and that is Chile. Chile's was many times stronger, also centered in a population center and they lost [...]
Read the full comment about a 1000 vs 250,000 in Haiti.
All about government enforced building codes, and wealth of course, because without it you can't enforce jack..
Can't tell you how many times I've agrued with my fellow Bulgarians to strap their kids in the car, and not smoke with them in it! It's getting better, and I see less of it, but when I bitch to them unlike Vessela I always keep in mind: had I personally not lived in the US, do I know for sure that I wouldn't do the same?
Yet in the US government ban did the trick, including me, being forced to quit out if sheer convince - who wants to get out every 30 minutes...
I will say again that children going out with adults should not be forced to inhale smoke.What choice do they have.
As an x Pat from england, i have seen the effects of the uk smoking ban, basically it killed the bar, pub and restraunts every other pub or bar has closed including the restraunts, also in turn it puts the air conditioning trades out of work people choose to stay at home with friends, i think the smoking ban is a bad move for bulgarias allready strugling climate, and from my own observations id say 75% of bulgarians smoke thats a lot of business to loose for the social economy.
First let me state - I am a smoker.
I do not like the idea of banning smoking, but I fully understand the point of view from non-smokers. Complaints about the smoke in restaurants is valid but should not be a reason to dictate either to other clients or the establishment. A clear policy of each establishment chosing and signing outside whether it is smokker or non-smoker is the best solution. Even if the 'smoking'establishment has to pay some higher taxes etc.
Plus, smoking is quite legal and governments even tax the [...]
Read the full comment habit.
What I resent is sitting in a smoking room (set aside for the purpose), and being told by a non-smoker entering the room to stop smoking!!
It is also my right as a non-smoker to choose restaurants that have appropriate non-smoking facilities.
Thank you Four Seasons Restaurant in the Hilton Hotel, Villa Rositsa (Neofit Rilski), ONDA, Coffee Heaven and others, for making my life more pleasant.
Shame on ALL the Irish pubs...
Am Expat,
"I don't smoke, but I don't really like the idea of a ban either. I think it should be left up to the establishment itself to decide."
You are such a reasonable individual, and not just from this bit, but generally from your posts. I know you are married to a Bulgarian guy and I'd venture to guess that you make him happy.
Dr. oh,
Generally I try to be reasonably generous with such unhinged fellow Bulgarians, that [...]
Read the full comment have lost any perspective in life, especially when I meet them around the world, but sometimes I lose my cool. Just the other day I insulted a guy here, who said that he's "ashamed to be Bulgarian" for the silliest thing too - something "the Government" did or didn't do. I don't usually go around insulting people, especially Bulgarians, but in this case I think I was even being generous with my characterization... which was, I believe "garbage".
To be ashamed from what I, and my children are, for the most casual of reasons - what did we do, exterminate people like the Serbs, or blow up civilians like the Arabs? What is there to be ashamed of - that the government is ineffectual? Welcome to the real world!
Those folks are a true illustration of people lost in transition, and really don't deserve my insults, but hey - I am human too....
ANYTHING can be made into law today unfortunately, including giving your first born to the government, or having a one-child policy....
Most people today never mature and live in perpetual childhood, which, by the way, is another defenition of communism. Big dadddy will take care of you from cradle to grave... and will burn the evil smokers on the stake.
Law can only be effective if the population has matured to accept it. Dyankov has no choice.
To Katia:
This ban is not meant to tell you what to do yourself, but what not to do to OTHERS. (by the way if you work in office close to a busy laserjet you're more likely to get cancer)
If you get a salty meal you have no way of getting the salt out, but if it's undersalted you can always add some.
Did I miss the point? [...]
Read the full comment
I don't smoke, but I don't really like the idea of a ban either. I think it should be left up to the establishment itself to decide. I have to imagine that there are non-smokers here who would patronize non smoking establishments. What would be nice though, is if at restaurants, cafes, bars, etc, there was a decent air filtration system to get the smoke out, or at least let in some fresh air. Some places have this, and it makes a big difference.
P.S. Katia, I did read about that proposed salt ban in NYC [...]
Read the full comment and it's unbelievable. It's one thing if industry volunteers to reduce salt in products due to client demand for alternative choices, but the government intervening? Ridiculous.
Vessela, Vessela,
I fully agree with Valeri's comment...too bad for you, girl.
I will add one more thing -- I am fairly sure that you speak with an accent whenever you return to Sofia...:)) Oh, pardon me, you probably are not even from Sofia, no?
Oh boy, God knows how many little souls like you populate Brussels these days. There goes the neighborhood...
IF SMOKING DONT KILL US.THE BULGARIAN
HEALTH SERVICE,WILL DO IT.EVERYTHING
IN BULGARIA IS MONEY DRIVEN.
Go Bulgaria! Take the ultra-Politcally-Smoking-Ban and stick it! F the smokenazis.
Some of you miss the point- here in America, at my work we have 2 people who smoke, me being one, and we haven't been to the doctor in about 7 yrs. The rest, have asthma, chronic upper respiratory diseases,allergies,cancers, hacking coughs and are very unhealthy in general. They breathe no second hand smoke as there's no place to smoke anywhere anyway. Also, now New York has proposed a ban on salt in ALL restaurant under 1000$ fine.You can google it. If you let government ban one thing, they have a free hand to ban anything at all- who knows, [...]
Read the full comment maybe water will turn out to be unhealthy and they'll ban that as well. You fools, get out of your couble think and your EU/USSR. It's called tyranny. mentality.
If people want to smoke so be it but what about the people that are made to feel sick breathing in second hand smoke, there should be seperate areas for smokers in eating areas. But the most important thing is children why should they be exsposed to an adults filthy habit.
"Living & working in Brussels, we have already discouraged a number of people who have asked us about Bulgaria"
You wouldn't be a true Bulgarian if you didn't spit on your country Vessela.
We are very happy that you went to Brussels and saw the light enough to denounce your folks - I bet your parents and relatives completely fall in every category, you've come to despise with your enlightenment...
I believe we have a proverb for you Vessela:
"Пази Боже сляпо да прогледа";))
This only shows how weak the BG state is on any account as well as the low level of Bulgarians' health awareness + the practically absent civil society in the field of public health. The entire argumentation against the ban is hollow. Too bad! The people or the clients/consumers are the big losers as is usually the case. As for the governing pack, they are an irresponsible & shallow lot to say the least.
There's already a lot of negative feedback about the pervasive smoking habits in BG amongst foreign tourists. Many prefer to go to destinations that [...]
Read the full comment albeit costlier, provide for a healthier indoor environment. As far as my family is concerned, indoor smoking is a determinant in our choice of places to go. Living & working in Brussels, we have already discouraged a number of people who have asked us about Bulgaria. What coud we say? The chimneys start smoking early morning & they never stop.