So if smoking and second hand smoke are deadly, Greeks should be the sickest bunch in the world after the Japanese, shouldn't they? Well, Greeks the second heaviest smokers in the world are the healthiest people in the European Union. Japanese the first biggest smokers in the world have one of the longest life expectancies. Don't take my word for it, google it up. This needs some splaining Lucy!


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I can't believe that Greece, which has been in the EU for almost 30 years and is supposed to be a developed country, allows smoking everywhere and lets kids buy cigarettes. I was shocked to hear about dentists smoking while fixing your teeth, ashtrays in waiting rooms, people smoking in banks and supermarkets... That doesn't happen even here in Bosnia, and in Croatia they just passed a law of total smoking ban in all public places.
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The constant smell of cigarette smoke is the most unpleasant aspect of an otherwise-beautiful place. In a village I have visited, the local dentist smokes while she cleans your teeth. Many aspects of Greek culture are charming, but this is not one of them.
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They were supposed to enforce "strict new lawa" (Ha!) in 2002, six years ago.Nothing happened whatsoever, other than otherwise smoke-filled restaurants/cafes put a 'no smoking' sign on just a few tables. Equivalent to designating a part of a swimming pool for pissing in. Idiots.
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And: I've never seen so much smoking, I have astham and cannot breathe haf the time here. In Greece smoking is supposed to already be banned in the workplace, but on Crete workers and the public in supermarkets, banks and even hospitals smoke freely with no sanctions whatsosever applied. That's right, I said *HOSPITALS.* Visit the Iraklio hospital and watch the reception and cleaning staff happily smoking. No-one gives a sh*t.

Even if this ban passes as law (it hasn't yet), these sort of laws are rarely enforced. Greeks don't care.
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I'll believe it when I see it. Most Greeks are ignorant of the hazards and resistant to government control. There has been no effective education about this, especially in schools. Public health promotion is a joke. EU-funded ads on tv are far too subtle - they need a hard-hitting "Grim Reaper" campaign like Australia had. Passive smoking is not recognized. Even Greek doctors smoke, and place ashtrays in their waiting rooms, like it's the 1950s. You cannot get away from smoke here. What an ignorant, backward country.
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