Slovenian hospitality providers attempted to fight against the law restricting the use of tobacco products, which also prohibits smoking in public places, through civil disobedience. They announced that they would smoke cigarettes in 500 venues, but instead, they lit fragrant sticks.
The protest by the association of hospitality service providers, who claim their existence is threatened by the smoking ban, was met with readiness by the Slovenian Tobacco Control Association, whose members toured venues across Slovenia photographing local owners and their guests smoking cigarettes. The photographs will, according to Slovenian media, be sent to the health inspection.
To avoid further jeopardizing the difficult situation of hospitality providers, their guild association moved to plan B. Instead of temporarily violating the law, they decided to emphasize their stance by lighting fragrant sticks. The day before the presidential elections in Slovenia thus passed in a battle of wits between hospitality providers and anti-smoking opponents. Meanwhile, citizens of Slovenia continue to sign a petition for amending the anti-smoking law. So far, according to Slovenian media, only 2,000 Slovenians have signed it. Since the anti-smoking law was introduced in early August, traffic in hospitality venues has fallen by 30 percent. However, in just the first month of the law’s implementation, according to research results from the public opinion polling agency Aragon, nearly three percent of smokers began to quit smoking, and 14 percent of them considered stopping smoking. (T. V.)
