The encyclical issued by the Ministry of Health regarding the implementation of the anti-smoking law is proof positive that it is still not being enforced.
Our country continues to have the dubious privilege of permitting smoking in public places, whereas everywhere else in the world the cigarettes have been stubbed out and the ashtrays have vanished.
In his encyclical, the health minister call on all parties involved to exhibit “a sense of individual, social, and professional responsibility”. He calls upon the competent authorities to perform stricter inspections, but repeated pleas are not what will extinguish cigarettes in public places.
Instead, one gets the impression that where there are many encyclicals, there is little political will.
In the nearly ten years that the law has not been enforced, the number of smokers has begun to decline dramatically, as recent data show.
At the same time, non-smokers have stopped seeking out smoke-free oases, but instead stand up for their rights, and store owners are now willing hide the ashtrays, as long as the law is enforced equally for all.
Sadly, the official state has excluded itself from the equation, or merely issues encyclicals with pious wishes, on the anniversary of the law.
Pious wishes are a bad habit, which must at long last be put aside.
