It would seem that the town of Loreta in Croatia has historically had a smokefest at this time of year. What the article goes on to say is that the tradition was started 176 years ago to ward off illnesses (specifically cholera), and it must work because the town is not plagued with cholera. The article says that ‘all local people, young and old’ light up for their health on this auspicious town holiday. But what they are smoking is not duhan (tobacco) but kadulja which we shall translate as garden sage. Children as young as seven are noted in the article as filling their lungs with Kadulja smoke. What the article doesn’t say is anything about the tourists who were ‘shocked’, what they saw, said, did…
I may have subtly alluded to the smoking scene here – subtle as always.
The statistics are interesting –
• 36% of those over 15 years old smoke, so, for the maths challenged, that’s over 1/3 of the population.
• 3 % of those smoke more than 35 cigarettes a day.
• 87% of smokers smoke in their homes
• Smokers surveyed acknowledged that they had been exposed to the standard anti-smoking campaigns
• Of all the countries surveyed, Croatians were considered to be the most tolerant of smokers in that they are unlikely to ask someone not to smoke if they themselves do not smoke
• Misleading advertising on cigarette packets has had to be removed - words like ‘slim’ and ‘light’. Interestingly, a lot of women smoke the ‘slim’ cigarettes (my friend does, and she justifies it by saying there is not so much tobacco in a long slim cigarette..) and even saw a group of women with lovely glamorous cigarette holders the other day – how Audrey Hepburn..
Anti smoking laws were implemented in Croatia on May 6 2009 and these laws echo the standards adopted by the EU. The high incidence of smoking in Croatia is one of the issues that has been highlighted by the EU in the run up to the acceptance into the ‘club’.
There is a 1000 kuna fine for an individual smoking in a delegated no-smoking area, and a 15,000 kuna fine for owners of premises who allow smoking to take place in no-smoking areas. There are signs in the inside areas of cafes stating that they are smoke free. (Small aside (you know how I love ‘asides’) – I was in the café with the fishermen and sailors a week or so ago – it was cold and unpleasant outside and my friend was not feeling well, so we went inside – she continued smoking – I was a bit concerned when the waiter came into the area, thinking she would be asked not to smoke, but he wanted to borrow her lighter, and stood and chatted to her while they both smoked).
Suffice it to say that there was a collective groan when it was suggested that areas become smoke free – owners of cafes asked that the laws be implemented when the recession was over, and pointed out that particularly over the winter, clients would stay away as more clients smoke than don’t…
I wouldn’t like to hazard a guess about the outcome of the laws. It would be interesting to see if the laws have made any difference to the smoking habits, or to find out the number of people being fined for flouting the laws. 13,000 die each year in Croatia from tobacco related illnesses, but 36% of the population does it – bus drivers, taxi drivers, shopkeepers, young and old.
I know three people here who don’t smoke. I’m getting used to it now.
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