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It is impossible to treat anti-tobacco initiatives and laws unambiguously. On the one hand, smoking is a completely traditional way to ruin your health, while enjoying it. On the other hand, non-smokers have the right to be dissatisfied with the fact that a tobacco lover involuntarily manages their health.
Legislative initiatives designed to protect the rights of non-smokers from their forced nicotine poisoning are, on the whole, reasonable. But sometimes they take bizarre forms.
10 Finland
The government of this state has set a goal to have a completely non-smoking country by 2040. These ideas are quite old, and anti-tobacco laws have been gradually tightened since 1977. Nevertheless, today they are quite liberal – you can smoke at home (who would doubt it!) And in any place that is not considered “public”.
Penalties for violation are relatively humane – from 50 to 170 euros. But if a teenager is caught with a cigarette, he faces imprisonment. Severely educate young people, a distant sight is visible. Despite ambitious plans, one in five smokers still smoke in Finland.
9. Sweden
Cheerful Scandinavians do not want to fall behind the “hot Finnish guys” and have also set themselves the goal of achieving a completely non-smoking country. True, a little more cautious – by 2050. Well, so they joined the anti-tobacco initiatives of the World Health Organization, only on reflection – in 2005.
True, they approached the matter with practicality and thoroughness: smoking is allowed only in bars and restaurants. But they showed Jesuit cruelty, prescribing in the law as places for smoking “separate closed premises in which it is forbidden to eat and drink.”
Well, how is it: in a restaurant – and not to eat over a cigarette? One mockery. Practical Swedes thought and thought, and found a loophole. Many cafes have been reclassified as “private clubs with paid membership.” And here the owner of the club has the right to establish a special charter in his monastery. “Membership” is acquired in such a restaurant by any visitor at the time of ordering the menu.
8. Ireland
This country was the first to support the WHO anti-tobacco initiatives announced in 2004. And famously imposed a fine of 3 euros for smoking anywhere, unless it was specifically indicated by the authorities.
You can try to smoke in a cafe or restaurant – but the owner will quickly stop this disgrace, fearing a fine of 10 euros. The Irish are especially offended that smoking was banned in pubs – sacred places for every real Irishman. Well, what’s a mug of beer without a cigarette?!
7. France
Cheerful French people joined the anti-tobacco round dance in 2008. And, not wanting to deny themselves the usual pleasures, they set a rather humane fine by European standards: only 68 euros.
Moreover, smoking is officially allowed on the terraces of public catering establishments (how the Swedes envy them!) and … on the deck of a ship.
One happy year for smokers – 2007 – could be smoked at a disco or in a restaurant hall. But, “the music didn’t play for long.” Today this pleasure “costs” 135 euros. Now there is often a paradox: the restaurant is empty – and there is nowhere for an apple to fall on the terrace.
6. Germany
The methodical Germans, having joined the general dance of bans at the same time as the French, cast the wording in cast iron: “Smoking is allowed only in special, enclosed spaces.” And point. For violation of the fine from 25 to 250 euros.
It is not entirely clear what caused the tenfold difference in the amount of the fine – you need to carefully study dozens of paragraphs, subparagraphs and circulars. But it is known for sure that a taxi driver whose car smells of tobacco is fined 1 euros. (Yes, and rightly so).
However, the burghers, accustomed to cigarettes, do not get tired of grumbling, recalling that Hitler personally signed the first anti-tobacco laws in the late thirties, and insultingly call deputies names.
5. Japan
Executive Japanese “took under the hood” in 2009. Anticipating a variety of situations and circumstances in which a violation is possible, they deliberately set a very wide range of penalties – (in terms of euros) from about 25 to 1.
And they set some kind of restrictions. You can smoke outdoors – but not everywhere. On the street – but not on everyone. In houses – but not in every room.
In general, “everything that is not forbidden is allowed,” but a lot is forbidden. It’s funny that on most of the “forbidden” streets, you can still smoke – but only women.
4. United Kingdom
Having joined the anti-tobacco convention a year later than Sweden (in 2006), the prim English approached the matter with British pedantry – and with a share of peculiar English humor. Smoking is allowed at home (as it is written in the law!); in a hotel room; on the street and … in prison.
Smoking is absolutely unacceptable in any sports complexes and stadiums. And in Scotland, in addition, smoking is unacceptable at public transport stops. The violator is entitled to a fine of 2 euros.
3. USA
Entrepreneurial Americans, after much debate, joined the WHO’s anti-tobacco initiatives in 2010. And they immediately took advantage of the right of every state in the United States to establish sovereign laws. Smoking policies and penalties can suddenly change as soon as you cross an invisible line marked by a colorful billboard.
Fines range from $250 to $1, depending on the state and the specific statute violated. Common is the ban on smoking in government offices, sports facilities and hospitals.
Most states have banned smoking in bars and restaurants. In New York, smoking is prohibited in public parks, squares and adjacent streets. And California is generally non-smoking – you can only smoke at home (this is important!) At home.
Not wanting to lag behind their historical parents – the British – the Americans also accompanied their laws with some kind of humor. True, not so elegant.
In the state of Illinois, for smoking in a car (that’s right) with a child under eight years old, the parent faces prison. At the same time, the owner of a cafe in which “at least hang an ax” will only pay $ 2. And, yes, regardless of the state, “it is allowed to smoke freely in prison.”
2. India
A country that is difficult for a European to understand. The penalty for smoking outside the permitted places seems ridiculous to us – just the price of one pack of cigarettes. But in a country of total poverty (and even famine), a family can live on this amount for a week.
Tobacco smoking is allowed only on the street, and in specially designated places (the ban does not apply to incense).
Many people smoke – almost one in five. But these are official statistics, which are very difficult to keep in India for objective reasons. Considering that the smoking ban is actually not enforced anywhere and by no one, it can be assumed that the “smokers”, in fact, are more than the official 250 million.
1. Greece
Being one of the last to join the Convention (in 2010), the Greeks approached the matter with traditional Balkan daring. And they immediately appointed the most severe fines for smoking outside the allotted places.
From 50 to 200 euros “costs” smoking in any of the “tobacco-free” zones. In not entirely clear “particularly serious” cases, the fine can be 3 euros. The recidivist owes the treasury as much as 000. At the same time, the restrictions are strict: you can only smoke at home and in “specially designated places.”
Nobody follows the ban. According to official statistics, Greece is the most smoking country in the European Union. Moreover, the owners of some cafes openly sell cigarettes to visitors and serve tables with ashtrays. And none of them is embarrassed by the fine of 10 euros prescribed by law.