Revised smoking bill is passed

Bars and restaurants will have to declare if they are nonsmoking or smoking after the Senate passed a compromised bill amid heated debate.

The original version of the bill sought to ban smoking in all indoor public places but was later amended. Passed July 24, the bill no longer allows bars and restaurants to have a smoking area. They can either allow smoking on their premises or ban it all together, and prominently displayed stickers will tell customers if they are allowed to light up in the establishment.

The law also includes a more precise definition of what defines a public area where smoking may be possibly banned and introduces harsher sanctions for anybody who sells alcohol and tobacco to children (fines range from 50,000 to 500,000 Kč).

Deputy Boris Šťastný (ODS), one of the main authors of the amendment to the original anti-smoking law that promoted a total and comprehensive ban on smoking in indoor public places, supported the compromised version, but it was heavily criticized by health experts.

Eva Králíková, an expert on tobacco addiction with Charles University's First Faculty of Medicine, fears that the new law will do little to reduce health risks.

"Unfortunately, I don't believe this law will have any effect. It's just adding stickers to the same bars. Only a 100 percent smoking ban in public places would be of help," she said. She added that the number of heart attacks dropped 15 percent in France, Ireland and Italy after a total ban on public smoking took effect.

Králíková provided data from a recent Eurobarometer survey that revealed 76 percent of Czechs are in favor of a total ban on smoking in public places, and that the Czech Republic sees 60 smoking-related deaths per day.

Compared with many EU countries, this law is much more lenient. "The Czech Republic went with a compromise for now, but that doesn't mean laws on smoking can't get stricter in the future," said Petr Kostka, spokesman for the Czech Senate. He added that family-oriented restaurants will likely choose to ban smoking, while many pubs will probably still allow their customers to light up.

The bill must be signed within 30 days by President Václav Klaus, and the law will take effect in July 2010.

Sarah Borufka can be reached at
sborufka@praguepost.com