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Smoking ban leads to creative solutions
Pushing the limits
The most creative method came last week when Suat Karakaya, an owner of a coffeehouse in İstanbul's Kağıthane district, found a way to smoke inside the coffeehouse without violating the ban. He drilled two holes in a window and passed a thin hoses through each. A lit cigarette is attached to the outside end of one hose, enabling the customer to smoke the cigarette from within the coffeehouse. To exhale, the smoker uses the second pipe. Karakaya told reporters that he was inspired by the water pipe, or nargile, and that his customers are quite happy. “My customers favor this method,” he added.
For a coffeehouse owner in the Aegean province of Manisa, the best solution he could find to win back customers who smoke was to remove the roof of his coffeehouse, thereby making it legal to smoke there. Speaking to reporters, Nuri Bilenler said he dismantled the roof in order to comply with the law and please his customers. Provincial health directorate officials inspected the area and said customers can smoke in the “open-air” coffeehouse so long as it is not covered again.
Another solution came from a barber in the Central Anatolian province of Konya. In order to enable his customers to smoke while having their hair cut, Kamil Uslu carried the chairs from his barbershop into the garden outside. His solution is a result of wanting to please his customers while respecting the ban.
Public supports ban
These creative solutions indeed have one single point in common: None violate the ban. According to Ubeyd Korbey, the chairman of Turkey's Anti-Smoking Association, almost no one opposes the ban in Turkey and these cases are just exceptions. “Everyone approves of the ban and has accepted that there is no turning back,” he noted. Stating that it is normal for some people to look for ways to smoke while technically complying with the law, Korbey said Law No. 4207, on the Prevention of Harmful Effects of Tobacco and Tobacco Products, can readily be implemented and is easy to enforce. “This law is a turning point in Turkish history as well as a turning point sociologically. It is usual to expect opposition to such a law, but polls show 90 percent of Turks approve of the ban. There is no need to panic. People are complying with it and inspections are sufficient. Everything will fall into place by winter,” he added.
Law No. 4207 requires that all restaurants, coffeehouses, cafeterias and bars have an appropriate outdoor area if they wish to serve smokers. The ban calls for a TL 69 fine for those who smoke in a forbidden area and a fine of up to TL 5,600 for operators who allow it to happen. Ministry of Health officials have carried out 20,019 inspections since the smoking ban was expanded on July 19. No business has yet been fined, but 2,424 warnings were issued during the inspections.
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