European Commission imitating Labour government’s proposed outdoor smoking bans

The European Commission has announced plans to implement outdoor smoking bans across countries of the European Union that will also include bans on the use of electronic devices like Heat-Not-Burn tobacco.

The Labour UK government had confirmed speculations made by The Sun over leaked documents that there would be outdoor smoking bans enforced in the UK outside pubs and restaurants, when the prime minister spoke to reporters from France, where he was watching the Para-Olympic Games, but the ban is increasingly unlikely to become a priority or even be implemented by the parliamentary government majority given the high level of negative reactions and public debate.

Efthimios Kalabalikis is a dental surgeon from Greece, who believes that if he could destruct the tobacco industry in all the forms it comes in, he would do it. “Until this is done,” he said, “I agree with any measure that restricts and prohibits smoking, vaping, etc., as much as possible. Especially in places where there may be children, where I would characterise it as unhealthy and moreover unsightly. Studies proving the harmful effects of smoking are not disputed. More worrying studies are already coming out about e-cigarettes, vaping and all similar chemical tobacco products.”

A Greek health-related civil servant said that “I fully agree with the Commission’s directives. The new fashion of e-cigarettes creates the illusion of the ‘best’, but in reality it is simply something unknown for its effects on the human body in the future. Perhaps this also makes most people choose it over regular cigarettes. Banning outdoors will likely limit its use and may even lead to a reduction in the choice of e-cigarettes as an easier solution.”

But many, if not most from Greece, disagree. Greek shopkeeper Nilolaos maintains that prohibition is a responsible cause of psychological problems. “Let us first deal with the other issues that are more serious such as chemicals in food, lack of medicines, high prices, that create violence and low quality of life, unemployment, polluted air and the last one is cigarettes… Heart and strokes reap because of the above causes and not smoking or vaping.” said Nilolaos to the Greek press.

Athens restaurant owner Achilles also disagrees with outdoor smoking bans proposed by the European Commission and said of smoking that “I can understand that it creates a problem indoors, but I cannot force the customer not to smoke outside at the table. We have many customers asking to sit outside to smoke. As for vaping, I find it unacceptable. They should look to ban all these carcinogenic foods or snacks that our children freely take in any kiosk and for the unaccountability of the big polluting industries that pollute the atmosphere and the seas and the environment in general.”