Stewart - where in VT is there a happy medium where non-smokers can enjoy their meal without a faceful of second-hand smoke? Not in any restaurant I've been in. The "non-smoking sections" have no physical separation from the rest of the restaurant. Smokers don't see the problem here, but having a smoking section in a restaurant is like having peeing section in a swimming pool. This is the reason I don't go to restaurants and bars in the winter. When smoking is banned in them, I will.

We have had the smoking ban in the UK for a good few years. I hope they bring it in Bulgaria specially in restaurants.People become a out cast if you smoke

You seem to know everything about this subject. Wise up, Jack. The medical community in this country can easily tell you the havoc that smoking is already creating in the lives of smokers and their families. The burden of treating all of the smoking related illnesses is already being felt by the government budget, and there is so much more to come. This is well documented.

So smoking has no health effects! What nonsense. Over 80% of all lung cancer patients are smokers, explain that. As for the laws not working; in parts of Canada smoking is banned in ALL restaurants, bars and public spaces, you can't even smoke outside within several meters of entry doors. Guess what? The restaurants and bars are still there, amazing. Filthy, expensive habit for weak, sick people, nothing more.

Does anyone realize that when public smoking is banned and people stop smoking the government will find other ways to collect the tax they will miss out on? Live and let live, but be very careful making new laws banning smoking. Maybe issuing membership cards for clubs, bars and restaurants is an option? That way the place isn't public any more.

Well I was pretty upset when I heard of these smoking bans, which is why I went to the alternative that allows me to smoke where I please. Their called Crown7 Electric cigarettes, they emit water vapor but still allow you to get your fix.

"So smokers are going to stop going out to restaurants and bars if there's a smoking ban?"

YES! - and most regular social drinkers are also smokers!

"the boom in restaurant turnover appear from the non smokers,"

Not in any country I know of. The only 'BOOM' will be in unemployment and lost hospitality venues.

"hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians seriously ill from smoking"

Pure Hyperbole - see below!

I do not think there is one [...]

Read the full comment claim made by the anti-smoker lobby that has not been discredited, found to be false, exaggerated or misleading. Almost all anti-smoker arguments on the subject are eventually reduced to ‘smell’, addiction’ ‘anti-smokers (selfish) ‘rights’ etc. (avoiding the REAL issues).

In Britain, despite the claimed 'ESTIMATES' of people quitting, when we see the facts, smoking bans have made no difference or MORE people smoke. In 2006 when the Scottish ban was enacted they said 70% of smokers wanted to quit, but smoker prevalence 4 years later remain the same, and they STILL say 70% want to quit.

SHS 'harm' has been fallaciously manufactured purely to justify bans and encroachment on individual freedoms and human rights. Anti-smoker activists decided to do this in 1975 - BEFORE any studies were done to 'prove' the affect on the non-smoker.

Despite the substantial reduction in smokers over the last 60 years or so, we can see that there are NO health benefits to speak of. As an example, cancers alleged to be caused by smoking, are increasing at breakneck speed, unchecked, unhindered.

Ridiculous and various 'estimates', of smoker harm are bandied around with no solid foundation - just some figures someone, somewhere MADE UP to deceive the gullible. Ask where these figures come from, the data and the methodology used to create them and you will either not get them or it will be clear that they are specious. YOU ARE EXPECTED TO JUST 'BELIEVE' THE 'EXPERTS'.

Smokers pay far more tax than they spend on healthcare, leaving a surplus for the rest of the population.

There are NO benefits in smoking bans other than to bolster the egos of some callous anti-smokers or boost the profits of the pharmaceutical industry. They only destroy economic, physical and moral health and produce an intolerant society.

The wisest countries (most in EU) have done what is suggested here in Bulgaria. To allow choice, encourage tolerance and to prevent the damage caused by anti-smoking.

To say that ANTI_SMOKING was 'unhealthy' for society would be a gross understatement.

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This comment has been removed by the moderator because it contained Обиди, дискриминация, срещу журналисти

Is this a joke? It's just a confusing escape clause for business owners to exploit. It must be outlawed totally or don't even bother. As for the fear of business' going bankrupt, forget it. If you think smokers will suddenly stay at home knitting sweaters instead you are dreaming. These laws work in many countries, just join the modern era and get on with it. Why any human being would want to smell that crap is beyond me anyway.

Kristina,
you do have valid points, but enough with the "embarrassing" stuff!
Everything that happens in BG that we don't like it's automatically "embarrassing" for the country.

It's sooo provincial, seriously.

It's different people pushing different interests, believes and ideas.

It's what a democracy is all about - an arena for competing interests to duke it out... we'll see when the dust settles. Mean while, respect your nationality...

All you doubting Thomas's and scorn merchants. Simply step back and look at what carnage & misery the smoke ban has caused in England. The pub/club industry is in rapid decline with 40-40 closures every week. In answer to your question PAUL-yes smokers get the hump and stay away from pubs/clubs & restaurants,, the economy nosedives pronto. As for your follow up comment, that is just absurd! Do you seriously think 'the hordes of non smokers' are suddenly going to turn their lifestyles around just because pubs/clubs are smokefree? Wake up and look at the truth of smoking bans-they are [...]

Read the full comment finanacially disastrous, no matter which country they are implemented in.

yet more people scaremongering about the so-called effects of passive smoking. No death certificate has "smoking" or "passive smoking" on it and thus dont know the so called economic burden but know for sure the devastating effect it would have on tourism and the hospitality trade in general- look at the UK which has lost one third of its pubs. The only reason why places in the UK and France comply is because of the risk of fines and that is coercion which is totally unacceptable in a democratic society. This smacks of totalitarianism.

Are we to understand that this delay is for economic reasons? That makes no sense. What about the ticking time bomb of hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians seriously ill from smoking. What about the economics of that huge bill, both in the present and down the road.

I LOOK AT A PERSON WHO SMOKES AND FEEL SORRY FOR THEM.AS THEY ARE TRAPPED IN A EVER DECLINING HEATH,AND WILL MISS THE BEST YEARS OF RETIERMENT. [SIGNED FIT AT 77]

The longer the delay in enforcing the ban, the more people who will die. Most at risk are the employees of the bars and restaurants. The right to breathe clean air should not be postponed.

I have lived in the US, Bulgaria, London and now France. This delay of a smoking ban is embarrassing to the country- it shows yet another display of self-serving politicos concerning themselves with their own interests before the public good, and certainly everybody's health. Smokers use the phrase, "I'm free to smoke so why shouldn't I?". Well, perhaps because non-smokers have the right to a smoke-free world just as well. Bringing that smoke into an enclosed, public place is hardly fair for those non-smokers that suddenly have no choice when this happens. The smoking bans worked and worked well in [...]

Read the full comment the US, the UK and France (even in the French "countryside" and I'm not talking about a 4 sqm Mom and Pop kiosk). Hefty fines should be levied and enforced, seriously and Bulgaria really does need to get with the program on this one. Social venues elsewhere do not leave you or your clothes smelling like an ashtray for hours and days later the way they do in Bulgaria. The economy only stands to gain from this as we have seen in prior cases; the downturn in "bars, restaurants and tourism" has more to do with the global economic downturn in the last 2 years (which has coincided with many smoking bans coming into effect)than with a few smokers who suddenly have to puff away outside rather than poisoning everybody's air inside.

As a smoker (but not bulgarian style) I respect my neighbour and am willing not to smoke if he she should be disturbed by my habit. In france this ns law is slowly falling to pieces as bars , especially in the countryside cannot survive without the local population of which some inevitably smoke. The police have the right to give on the spot fines to both smoker and landlord which can amount to 300E.I have never heard of such a fine being given.In any event it is clear that smoking can be a problem as can eating garlic being [...]

Read the full comment drunk spitting etc rules and regulations are repressive let commonsense rule

Joseph you have the answer Non smoking sections then you have smoking sections so everybody can be happy like there is now in V.T.so smokers don't have to stand outside
clogging the pavements and fag buts
strewn around

I'm conflicted on this one. In Washington DC and New York and California, restaurants and businesses survived and thrived. In Bulgaria, cafes would suffer during the winter, but DC had outdoor smoking be ok. This worked out well. People overreact to such stuff, and then realize it isn't that bad. Here in Bulgaria, I can't see Bulgarians skipping clubs and restaurants over a cigarette in Sofia. Cafes would probably suffer though. If you want to really fix it, BG needs real non-smoking sections, and less chain smokers.

all my friends have not gone to bars since the ban in the uk. we go to houses to drink and smoke and socialise. that is why most bars are closed or empty.
no smokers are miserable and spend no money as smoking peoples.

If Bulgaria brings in a total smoking ban the bars and restaurants will close at a similar rate to the ones elsewhere.
This is not about health any more but purely social control.
The tourist trade in 'smokefree' countries has dropped alarmingly and jobs have vanished.

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Look whats happened in the uk.
Pubs and restaurants are closeing at a rate of 36 a week.
The poor smoker has to stand outside in cold weather while the non smokers come out once a month and drink a half of lemomade.
Its the smokers who now stay at home,which is killing the pub trade.

Folks - we must remember that most of the MPs smoke. In a country where 60-70% of the population smokes, this was an easy political decision. We stopped going out during the winter because we smelled like ashtrays when we returned home. We have to wait until mid-Spring (when the outdoor cafes re-open) to start eating out again!

I would have thought that the current government would have put a ban on further development in seaside areas such as Golden Sands and Sunny Beach if they were serious about helping the tourist trade in Bulgaria rather than playing about with the smoking ban

I have lived in different countries and different big cities where smoking was banned in public places. All restaurants and bars said that business was to be ruined.Well, guess what. Never happened. The non-smokers came out in droves and saved the public. This is an old story and will repeat itself even in BG. Come on BG, get with the program.

In every countries where is forbiden now to smoke in public area, it was the same argument : smokers were the lifejackets. But in reality, the boom in restaurant turnover appear from the non smokers, they came back to consume because if the return of the fresh air !!! Do you want to save BG from the crisis Mister Prime Minister ? Ban smoking in public area right now and make BG a friendly place for everyone ! I think that there is much urgent to cure in our country : roads, salary, public transportation, hospitals, retirement fees, natality....

This is the most stupid thing I have ever heard. So smokers are going to stop going out to restaurants and bars if there's a smoking ban? Presumably foregoing social contact in favour of sitting at home alone puffing away? I doubt it. And if that were true then there would be just as much to be earned from all the non-smokers who up to now have sat at home not daring to go into a smoky pub and will now feel free to go out.