Nearly two million people have quit smoking in Turkey since a law was passed in 2008, banning smoking in all in-door spaces, including cafes, bars and restaurants, but NGO calls for tougher restrictions.
Turkey’s first non-governmental organization to fight against smoking demanded smoking restrictions in outdoor public areas, in a written press release.
The president of the Turkish Association for Fighting Smoking, Dr. Mustafa Aydin, said outdoor smoke-free zones must be built in restaurants, cafeterias and other public areas.
The new demand to build outdoor smoke-free zones in restaurants is an attempt to encourage more people to quit smoking in Turkey although nearly two million have already quit in the last five years.
Aydin said smoking while driving should also be penalized because “it puts other people’s lives in jeopardy in the same way as talking on the phone and driving.”
Among the demanded restrictions are also forbidding menthol cigarettes, which the World Health Organization reports are more dangerous than regular cigarettes. Aydin said Australia, the first country to outlaw branding on cigarettes, is a good example of how cigarettes sales dropped because of the ban on brands.
Source World Bulletin
