Survey: Macedonians Support Smoking Ban

33 per cent of the respondents did not approve of the law that came into force on New Year’s Eve, while the remainder said that they could not decide.

The ban caused much controversy in the public as many smokers opposed its harsh provisions, which prohibit smoking in cafes and restaurants and on their outdoor terraces.

The Macedonian Chamber of Tourism also complained that the harsh fines for smokers who break the law, which reach up to 300 euros, deter customers from visiting bars and restaurants and have resulted in a drop in the profits of those establishments by an astonishing 90 per cent since the start of the year.

Bar and restaurant owners urged the authorities to modify the law to allow them to accommodate the preferences of all their customers, smokers and non-smokers alike.

Health Minister Bujar Osmani stood in defence of the law. He argued that the provisions have to remain intact in order to tackle the health hazards of smoking. Osmani referred to official figures which indicate that nearly half of the adult population in Macedonia puffs.

“Macedonians consume 11,000 tons of cigarettes per year, which means 5.5 kilos per person. About 20 per cent of high school students are also smokers,” the minister noted.

At the moment the ruling centre-right party VMRO-DPMNE and the main opposition party, the Social Democrats, are waging a heated debate over possible amendments to the law. The Social Democrats insist that the provisions be loosened further than the ruling party suggests.

The NGO said that the survey was done in mid February on a representative sample of the population. Dimitria Cupovski is a newly formed NGO. Its first debate staged last week supported the government's massive project for the revamp of downtown Skopje.