Ireland introduced a ban on smoking in public places in 2004 and we got used to this ban very easily. There was an outcry at the start but since then it has been welcomed, even by smokers. Everyone is happy to go home not smelling of cigarettes. We’ve even got a new verb: to smirt. It means to go outside and have a smoke and a flirt. In truth, I don’t understand why the law can’t be applied here, if equally law-flouting places such as Italy, Spain and Ireland can make it work. It just takes a bit of getting used to.
Neil Connolly 

I think that the ban on smoking in public places has been observed only formally by people for the last year. There is some kind of formal division in bars, cafes and restaurants with tables for smokers and non-smokers and signs against smoking in public places, but nobody follows them. There must be more strict sanctions and a working mechanism so that people would know what might happen if they do not follow the restrictions. So generally speaking as someone who is trying to quit smoking I do not think that anything has changed after the ban was introduced 
Zvezda Venkova

A year and a month on...
Sometimes it feels we’re just a month on - sometimes a year behind. Occasionally there are pleasant surprises such as in the case of the Captain Cook restaurant the other day, where smokers and non-smokers have completely separate dining areas without either being made to feel second rate. Maybe this contributed to their nomination as restaurant of the year. On the other end I noticed in one of our favourite restaurants in Borovets (Hrima) that there was only one (out of eight) table designated as non-smoking, and yes you’ve guessed it - it was occupied by smokers and although I insisted on wanting to sit there it was to no avail. Neither staff nor owners were prepared to ask the guests to move. Definitely not nice when you want to eat out with children.

The other thing that always gets me is when you ask for the non-smoking section and they reply wherever you like! Needless to say when the next people come in they can sit and smoke wherever they like! (Motto - take note!)

And finally we have those restaurants that just don’t seem to care about non-smokers. Unfortunately the Taj Mahal is in this category. The food may be delicious but every time I have eaten there (always with non-smokers) my eyes were stinging from the smoke for hours afterwards. Shame, really, when you consider that the restaurant is on several floors and one could so easily separate them into smoking and non-smoking. (Maybe it has been done since my last visit in November???)

Elsewhere, we need more public campaigns about protecting children from smoke. Smoking in a car with small children inside should be a finable offence just like talking on a mobile phone... OK so the chances of actually being fined are small but at least it puts the matter into perspective. Yes- Yellow taxi point out to their drivers that they can only smoke in the cab if their passenger agrees to it, which is a welcome gesture, but maybe it would just be nice to have more non-smoker taxis all round.

And finally, if that woman, who visits my hairdresser just to smoke a cigarette in her coffee break does it again whilst I’m having my hair done - I’ll be taking my business elsewhere!

Guess what? I’m a smoker -  all be it a very considerate one....
Paromita Sanatani

One year after the ban on smoking in public places and certain prescriptions for bars and restaurants has been imposed in Bulgaria, the results are more than disappointing for its proponents and encouraging for its opponents.

The ban has failed to be implemented at most places. For example, I went to the Tax office in Sofia today and there were clerks pacing up and down the building smoking. And this happens in a place where citizens are serviced and piles of paper documents surround the officers. So, the ban is not sufficiently executed and the only parties that are affected (or at least were in the beginning following introduction) are the entertainment places.

From my point of view, neither a mandated smoking ban nor smokers lighting up wherever they want is consistent with the ideals of a liberal society. On one hand, the government should change the act to require that all places of public accommodation establish either a non-smoking or smoking-allowed policy and on the other hand - introduce a requirement for businesses to post clear signs at entrances.

This way, if most consumers prefer a non-smoking environment, bars and restaurants will follow the money and adopt a no-smoking policy. But if a smoking ban hurts business they will allow smoking. Some bars and restaurants will most probably choose the no-smoking policy and others will choose the smoking-allowed policy, and smokers and non-smokers alike will be accommodated.

And everyone will be happy without restricting citizens’ liberty and encouraging corruption.
Svetla Kostadinova

I think I’ve smoked all of six cigarettes in my life. Not like I have anything against smoking, it’s just that the stale smell and the health detriments and the yellow teeth and young wrinkles don’t do anything for me.

So - if people want to smoke, that’s fine, just as long as their smoke isn’t ruining the taste of my dinner or blowing into my face.

Growing up in Southern California, the difference between the two in terms of smoking is, well, there’s no comparison. In Europe, everyone smokes. In So Cal, if you smoke, you’re either a rebellious teenager, or a 40-year-old underpaid minimum wage worker who looks 60.

There, we have strict, strict laws against smoking. The dangers of smoking are rubbed into us like a cook rubs tenderiser into a tough steak. You can’t smoke in government buildings; you can’t smoke in restaurants; you can’t smoke in most public places; you can’t smoke in the few clubs we have; you can’t smoke in bars. Somehow, the few cigar clubs we have have managed to work around this regulation.

Here in Bulgaria, they say that smoking regulations exist. They must, for why else would there be little “no smoking” plaques on certain tables?  Or, why have certain areas reserved for smokers and non?

At the Department of Language Learning of Sofia University, we have a little cafe where we all go during break. The area reserved for smokers is on the inside of the building; non-smokers were relegated to the breezeway. In the summer, fine. But when it’s zero degrees, that ain’t cool. You can guess where we hung out.

Truth, non-smoking-  and smoking-specified areas don’t really thrill or chagrin me. If you want to smoke, fine. Just don’t do it in my shkembe chorba.
Magdalena Rahn

The hairdressing salon I use continues to be a haven for smokers. I can’t stop going there because no one else in Sofia can do my apparently very annoying ‘English’ hair (!) but my visits this winter have been kept to a minimum because I can barely breath in that gas chamber. At least in the summer the windows are open. My hairdresser told me that some time in spring last year they were checked and were issued a warning and this meant that for about a month nobody smoked inside. Evidently they’ve never been checked since and, like most of the rest of the people in this country, have forgotten that such a rule exists.
Christine Milner
Managing Director & Publisher