In the one-and-a-half years since Bulgaria instituted laws on smoking in public places, people wonder if efforts made have been sincere, or only done for face value. Though, many venues do attempt to clearly demark and separate smoking and non-smoking sections of their establishments. Bulgarian and foreign contributors weigh in on the status of smoke in their everyday lives and we name and shame some of the guilty establishments...with a nod to those who get it right.

Marco Jara
I am a non-smoker and my wife is an ex-smoker. We both frequent restaurants on a regular basis and in general we always try and find restaurants that have good sitting arrangements for non-smokers. If the place has a “token” table, then we usually do not dine there unless the restaurant does not have many patrons at that particular time.
This is usually the case with Murphy’s Irish Pub in Sofia. The non-smoking area in Murphy’s is a joke! Sometimes you see people smoking in the so-called “non-smoking zone” and it is tolerated by the staff; other times it is not. When the place is very crowded, basically Murphy’s does not have a non-smoking area. So what do we do? Well, we try to frequent restaurants before the busy times or places that have a garden area.

My biggest complain it is really against Murphy’s, which was once a establishment for expats and which held some standards; right now it does not. It sets a bad example to all other establishments if Murphy’s does not respect the law. How can you have a non-smoking zone only when you wish? If Murphy’s cannot follow the law, I cannot see how many other smaller places can even try.

In summary, we are saving lots of money by eating at home or getting take-away.

Christine Milner
T&M Turkish restaurant, cold evening in late September, entered the well-labelled “no smoking” lounge to find that the only two other guests in the whole restaurant were sitting in there smoking! The waitress’ explanation was they were putting all guests in there because they’d be having football on the TV later in the other part of the restaurant and it would get noisy. Ended up involved in a row with both the waitress and the smokers, who didn’t feel they were doing anything wrong as no one had told them they couldn’t smoke (despite the sign) and we were evidently spoiling their evening by making a fuss. As we were with business acquaintances who we were going out with for the first time we backed out of the situation to avoid embarrassment and ended up getting stroppy service from the waitress all evening!

Motto. Got to Motto one evening to find that the whole place stank of cigarette smoke from the doorway. Looked around for no-smoking section but none was apparent so asked a waitress who pointed vaguely in one direction and said: “Oh, but there’s no room there”. I looked the way she was pointing and could see ashtrays on the table and people smoking, so I asked her why. The answer was a shrug of the shoulders. I pointed out that there is a law obliging you to cater to non smokers, to which she didn’t respond, so I left and asked her to pass on my message to the manager.

Jimmy’s on Shipka Str. The upstairs no-smoking section has no proper ventilation, so if everyone around you is smoking then you are, too. The last time we were there the only reason the two people that sat at the table next to us didn’t light up was that I was telling the above stories in such a loud voice that they felt uncomfortable and moved to the other end of the room.

On the other hand Machu Pikchu was great, we were asked when we sat down in the no-smoking section if we smoked or not even before we were handed a menu.

Andrew Ridgway
There was a time in Bulgaria when the non-smoking section in a restaurant was a table where, in a bizarre cosmic coincidence, everyone's lighters had run out of fluid at once. The notion of an actual, designated non-smoking area was as foreign as the notion of an electric umbrella or a non-polluted stretch of the Danube—sure you can imagine it, but who would actually want such a thing? Freedom means freedom to do whatever I want, right? And if what I want is to enjoy a nice cigarette or two or 13 with my meal, who are you to say otherwise? Why should we listen to a bunch of health nazis who want to tell us what we can and can't do just like some communist?! Smoking, as an ear, nose and throat specialist once informed a friend of mine, is a political issue, not a health issue.

But for the past year and a half, things have been different. Some places are in meaningful compliance with the new laws, but in other restaurants the "no smoking" signs do about as much good as requiring every country along the Danube to put up a "no polluting" buoy in at least one 400m stretch for those who like to swim in the absence of chemical spills or carcinogens. I can't count the restaurants I've seen with a "no smoking" sign on a two-seater in the corner, or on a table in a cramped room with five “smoking” tables.

There's a restaurant called Roden Krai just past Yablanitsa – it has two rooms, but the "no smoking section" is one table among the rest in the smaller and more cramped of the two – which doesn't have any ventilation. Also, OMV (petrol stations) – you'd think a Western firm would be better about this, but in almost all of them there are three or four tables lined up in row, and one of them has a non-smoking sign. Great.

Still, a start is a start: a motorist who downshifts into a speedtrap and then flashes his lights for the next 10km has at least acknowledged the issue, and that in itself is more than I would have thought possible 10 years ago.

Pavel Ivanov
I am not a smoker, I don’t intend to join the chimney ranks and I am enjoying thoroughly the opportunity to go places where a thick tobacco fog wouldn’t stick to my clothes and hair. Still, I find this persisting smokers’ witch hunt tiresome in the extreme. Maybe it is because many of my friends smoke, or I because a hate seeing the collective PR juggernaut taking aim at anyone, but I am rooting for the smokers at their heroic last stand.

The carpet bombing with the “smoking is bad” mantra is bearing fruit as an ever-growing multitude is convinced that smoking causes cancer (I am not convinced it does), and is awarding a Pavlovian frown to the group indulging in their habit. Giving a hard time to smokers has turned into a state-sponsored sport, which I really hope shall not catch fire in Bulgaria; I am counting on the Bulgarians’ tolerance, or inertia, to prevail.

Call me a romantic, but I believe that the choice to smoke or not should not be skewed by the persistent negative campaign against it; I choose not to smoke not because I am brainwashed into it, but because I don’t like its possible effect on my breath and my wallet. The Marlboro man has a right to get on the screen again and balance the scales.

Julian Sobadjiev
I have a 12-year history with smoking in my past. All alleged reasons seemed irrelevant at the growing feeling that behind it was lack of purpose. The addiction would create habits and behavioral patterns that apparently devoured time and energy.

In my understanding it could be an act of defiance. Bulgarians have been way too eager to defy anything during the past 15 years, perhaps making up for their mass submissiveness in the past under communist rule. When the ban on smoking in public places was enacted on January 1 2005, many refused to comply. I have tried to ask people responsible for cafes to sanction infringements, but I was told that the ban itself was incorrect, it was a free country and no one had the right to tell anyone what they should do. After all, they were poisoning themselves, weren’t they?

I remember visiting a doctor back in June 2000, when my smoking seemed to be taking the best out of me. The doctor simply said: No, no, young man – your problem is that you’re too much preoccupied with your purpose. Take it easy and smoke. I smoke too. At my complaint of severe headache and chest pains, she sniggered. At my insistence that it was a problem and I had to know if there were wider implications to be expected, she simply got angry and cut the visit short, saying that I was basically ok. I believe many doctors will do that – play down the effect of smoking and drinking, in order to conceal their own flirtation with it. You don’t expect a doctor to be honest with the devastating effects of nicotine on brain and the heart, and then answer honestly the question: “If it is killing you, why do you do it?”.

Phred Mileski
I’ve never been a smoker. I hate the smell of smoke, and I really hate being forced to breathe in the stuff just because I like to go out to eat, drink and dance. I’m fully aware that most smokers don’t take up the habit because they intend to give me a migraine, but the fact of the matter is that smoke is by nature extremely invasive, not to mention a potential health hazard, and certain public establishments should make more of an effort to create an environment in which smoking and nonsmoking patrons can peacefully co-exist. I was surprised to learn that there have been smoking regulations in effect in Bulgaria since January of 2005, because I haven’t noticed too many restaurants and cafes following the rules. Most designated non-smoking areas and signage appear to be no more than token gestures which ultimately accomplish nothing. To be fair, my husband and I have enjoyed meals in a few Sofia restaurants where non-smokers are not treated as second-class citizens, but we’ve also dined in places where the so-called non-smoking area (if there even is one) is a single table, often tucked away in a corner and difficult to make out in the dirty blue haze. And while the law requires that non-smoking areas be well-ventilated, I haven’t seen much evidence of that other than the obvious solution of opening all the windows (not terribly practical come winter). The smokers probably ignore the rules as much as the establishments, but who can blame them for not taking the law seriously if it is not enforced in the first place?

Bennett Tohara
Bulgaria may be lagging in many areas, but access to, and use of, tobacco products is certainly not one of them, though the situation here is less worse than in Turkey, where almost everyone, including women, smokes – and their cigarettes are very pungent.

Especially appaulling (for a passive smoker like me, anyway) is smoking's prevalence among teenagers, and their audacity to do so during lunch and class breaks right off their school premises. Worse yet is the indifference among those who ought to be making a difference. Apparently they have resigned themselves to the futility of the matter.

A recent incident that stands out happened at Doom Internet Cafe one night. I had just finished writing a long e-mail to friend I had not contacted for over a year, when suddenly the electricity went out. Left in complete darkness, and deprived of Counter Strike, everyone began lighting up, in a seeming attempt to relight the room. Pretty soon the entire cafe was aglow with orange cigarette ends. Aside from the nicotine, it felt like Christmas.

Thought I had not sent my e-mail, I exited the building (after paying), my clothes having turned from a lemon-scented detergent smell to that of New Victory.

Activists need to intensify their public awareness campaign and reach out to more people, especially children. They need to be terrified early on into not even touching a cigarette – or suffer the consequences.

Paromita Sanatani
Although I personally enjoy a smoke after a good meal, when choosing where to sit in a restaurant, I tend to follow the lead of my companion(s). If they are non-smokers, that is quite all right as all too often the sheer volume of smoke in the smoking section is also too much for me.

Needless to say I would never want to subject my children to this.

I was particularly pleased when the smoking regulations came into force last year as it now meant I could actually visit eateries other than McDonalds with them.

Recently we have trekked around the city, checking out the new malls. Our favourite has to be the Mall of Sofia - it is bright and airy and completely smoke-free, even the entire food court area. Smokers are relegated to a balcony or the street. Obviously a few people are resorting to a quick smoke in the toilets (which reminds me of school days), but I hope the management of the mall will not hesitate to clamp down on the culprits.

Just a couple of days after this all-'round pleasant experience, we decided to visit Sky City. We straight away noticed that the general congregational area was not smoke-free. As we made our way in search of a restaurant, this Saturday lunchtime we came across Pizzaria Ugo. It is a large, modern open space, on two levels. We asked the waitress who greeted us for the non-smoking section. Her reply took me completely by surprise: “We don't have one”. “What do you mean you don't have one; aren’t you supposed to by law?” The delightful Bulgarian shoulder shrug followed. Not wishing to create a scene (just yet) we sat down at a table far enough away from any smokers and with a few vacancies around us. I, however, noticed at least two more families coming in, looking for the non-smoking section, only to receive the same reply. By now it was a little more difficult to find a table away from smokers and we too were gradually being encircled. I decided to make an issue of it and asked to speak to the manager.
It would be so easy to put a non-smoking sign on half a dozen tables and still have enough space for all the smokers. I was told the manager was busy but he would come and speak to me in a while. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a manager-like figure weasel out of the premises. He never came to speak to me. Now it just so happens that to my knowledge the parents of one of the children at my kid's school are the owners of Ugo. I thought they might be interested to know what was going on in their restaurant. It didn't take long. Downstairs in one of the shops I bumped into the mother and relayed the above situation.She excused the management as new (and inexperienced) and said they would address the issue straight away and get back to me. I haven't seen her since so I don't know what happened ... but I just wonder what would (or could) have happened had I been an inspector. You’re right, probably nothing!

All I want is a choice: it is something most restaurants, especially the one in question, can easily provide. I just can't understand why they don’t do it.

Stefania Mitova
My observation though is that... well, you either have to put up with the smoke going right into your face (and your clothes!!) or be brave and talk with the smoker. If the restaurant has not provided a special area for him, again, there are two possibilities: he is a remarkably kind guy and goes out to have his smoke, or... he just laughs in your face (not a good day for your face, is it?) and pretends you did not exist. Usually, however, even if there is a division in the place, no one seems to care about it. I guess people pay attention to the labels only in the really fancy restaurants. Otherwise the unpretentious sticker with faded words “no smoking” is practically only a formality.

Ognyan Kovachev
Smokers don't heed the laws. They don't care if there is table for non-smokers in restaurant; they ask for an ashtray (at the non-smoking table) and they get it. Also the owners of restaurants do not respect the law and non-smokers.

I prefer not to go to such places (where non-smoking sections don't exist or aren't respected) and I always complain to my friends if they smoke too much and try to influence my friends to stop or at least to reduce the amount of cigarettes they smoke. I hate someone smoking when I eat, and also if someone is smoking in the room in which I sleep.