Czechs ignore smoking ban

Czech pubs have long been islands of bliss for smokers. Innkeepers also are profiting from the Bavarian smoking ban. Bavarians simply drive to pubs across the border. But yesterday, the health committee of the parliament in Prague tried again to introduce a comprehensive smoking ban for the Czech Republic. Martin Zvěřina thinks it could backfire: "A total ban would end up just like the current smoking ban in railway stations or public transit stops: Sometimes people obey the law. But as soon as the police who collect fines disappear, the smoker lights up. If a total ban is enacted, citizens' threshold of tolerance for transgressions of the existing ban will drop even further."

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