Romania Has New Anti-Smoking Law
Smoking kills 33,000 people in Romania every year, that is 89 people a day or 4 every hour.
Valentin Țigău, 28.01.2016, 13:48
Alarming data about the number of deaths caused by smoking in Romania prompted Parliament to pass a Law against smoking, initiated in 2011 and backed by a number of NGOs. The public debate on this project has been inspired from the best practice of European states. Smoking is completely banned in 17 out of the 28 EU countries in enclosed public spaces, on public transport and at the workplace.
Nevertheless, Romanian MPs are divided over this law. 33 parliament members from all parties challenged the definition of “enclosed space where smoking is forbidden, which they see as discriminatory, and took the matter to the Constitutional Court. The Court dismissed the appeal on Wednesday, and ruled that the Law against smoking was constitutional. The head of state is now to sign it into law, and the act will take effect 45 days after its publication in the Official Gazette.
Under the new law, smoking is banned in clubs, bars, restaurants, taxis, education institutions, hospitals and also in both indoor and outdoor childrens playgrounds. However, smoking restrictions will not apply to maximum-security prison cells and designated smoking areas in international airports. People who break this law will be fined up to 500 lei, while in the case of clubs, bars and restaurants the fine can go up to as much as 15,000 lei or the respective units can be closed down. There are several MPs however who disagree with the Courts decision. Cristiana Anghel, a Conservative Senator, is one of them:
Cristiana Anghel: “In my opinion this law is ridiculous, in that it violates smokers rights. Germany, for instance, has reconsidered its decision and has allowed, among other things, those special smoking areas at the workplace, because labor productivity had decreased dramatically. But where there is a law there is no room for negotiation.
Other MPs approve of the no-smoking law, which brings Romania in line with the other European states. Horia Cristian, a Liberal MP, argues in favour of the new legislation:
Horia Cristian: “The Courts ruling came as no surprise, because it is not at all discriminatory. On the contrary, I believe that non-smokers have been discriminated against for a long time now. This is an important step forward for Romania and for its disease prevention strategy.
The law against smoking has been appreciated by almost 80% of the participants in an opinion poll conducted this month in Romania. Three quarters of those questioned have said they dont smoke, four out of ten have tried to quit smoking, while one-fifth of them are planning to do that in the following month.
