News Feature
Croatia to become smoke-free in 2008
23 January 2008
Smoking will be banned in all of Croatia's public areas, restaurants, clubs and bars by the end of this year, it has emerged.
Negotiations among the country's political parties also resulted in the decision to amend current drinking rules for older drivers, Zagreb's Southeast European Times reports.
According to the news provider, earlier this month Croatia's ruling body discussed banning smoking in public places and changing a zero-tolerance alcohol policy for drivers over 24 years of age.
The latest talks ended in an amendment allowing older, more experienced drivers a maximum of 0.5 per millilitres of blood alcohol.
At present, Croatia's smoking law only prohibits sparking up in workplaces.
The newspaper explained: "According to the new measures, smoking will be banned from public places because cigarette smoke is a general health hazard.
"Because every fourth adult in Croatia is a smoker, the announcement has sparked protests."
Before the adapted drinking regulations, concerns had been raised that a zero-tolerance policy would harm the country's booming tourism sector.
A 2006 survey of 25 EU countries indicated that over two-thirds of people supported a public smoking ban, although there was less support for prohibiting lighting up in bars and pubs.
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