Estonia considers its future as a smoke-free zone

TALLINN - There's nothing quite like it: the camaraderie of people coming together at their local pub at the end of the working day. For centuries, the pub has been a cornerstone of European civilization, a place where peoplecan meet and forget their cares over a drink. And for many, a cigarette literally goes hand-in-hand with the whole experience.

But here in Estonia all this is set to change. As of next May, the government is proposing to transform the atmosphere of the country's hostelries by imposing a smoking ban.
Yet this could damage an economy in which foreign visitors account for about half of all tobacco sales, and whose service sector constitutes over 66 per cent of its GDP. "The expected influence on the economy is marginal," says Mario Lambing of Estonia's Ministry of Economic Affairs. "A number of studies in the U.S.A. have found that banning smoking has not hugely affected the turnover of bars and restaurants. However, some of the studies have found quite the reverse 's that prohibiting smoking has had a negative effect."
"I'm very positive about the future of Tallinn as a non-smoking tourist destination," says Evelin Tsirk, manager of the Tallinn City Tourist Office. "I asked my colleague from Dublin's Tourism Authority, and he was pleased to confirm that since the introduction of the smoking ban, they have received a lot of positive publicity."
However, Ciara O'Mahony from Tourism Ireland strikes a note of caution. "It seems that the smoking ban hasn't affected tourism, but since it's only been in operation for four months, it's too early to tell the full effects," she says. "It's had a positive effect on American tourists. Visitors from Europe are perhaps less enthusiastic, but, with the good weather during the summer, they don't feel put out 's since there are lots of bars where they can sit outside. I think the real test will be in the winter."

Last year, the United States contributed less than 2.5 per cent of foreign visitors to Estonia. Perhaps Tallinn's expecting a surge in American visitors 's and an unseasonably warm winter.
"In the beginning, people will be against the ban, but it will gradually sink in," says Patrick, an Irishman who works in Tallinn's popular Irish pub Molly Malone's.
"It'll be like going back to school," adds Mark, one of the bar's stalwarts. "You'll have people sneaking off to the toilets for a crafty cigarette."
Cigar Bar manager Natalja Sokolova doesn't smoke cigarettes herself, but enjoys cigars and the occasional pipe. "I agree that smoking should be minimized," she says. "But people should have the opportunity to smoke if they really want to. It's not a crime."
Estonia's Tobacco Act already ensures that bars and restaurants with more than one room include non-smoking areas. The new law will prohibit smoking in all establishments where food and drink are served. Violations of the law will result in financial penalties 's both for the establishment and the individual.
"In Estonia we started to regulate these things a few years ago," says former Social Minister Eiki Nestor. "I'm sure the current regulations are good enough. The bill proposed this year is too much. We can adopt this law in Parliament, but it won't be adopted by society. It won't be a law but a joke 's one that will work against a healthy battle against smoking. If smoking is legal, society can't behave as if smokers are animals in the zoo 's which is my feeling in the Helsinki Airport." (Helsinki Airport's smokers' room is a fog-filled fishtank, through whose glass walls non-smokers can gawp at the suicidal fools within.)
More than a quarter of all deaths in Estonia are caused by smoking, although fewer than a quarter of the population describe themselves as regular smokers (you do the math). The new law was originally scheduled to be implemented this May but was postponed. "It will be a very difficult law to pass in Parliament," adds Taal Anneli Taal of Estonia's Ministry of Social Affairs. "There are many lobby groups. It depends on how strong the government is."
The most vocal of these lobby groups are the tobacco companies. "British American Tobacco understands environmental tobacco smoke can be a source of annoyance to non-smokers and smokers alike and is considered by some public health authorities to be a health concern," says Teresa La Thangue of B.A.T.'s London HQ. "However, we believe that the detrimental effects to health have been overstated."
But the unjustifiable hypocrisy of those who reap vast profits from the sale of this deadly addictive drug should only serve to remind us that, if we are to consider ourselves as truly civilized, we should always place morality above economic concerns. So says a smoker who's just decided to quit.