Chile prepares for tobacco smoking ban

Chile’s anti-tobacco lobby is looking forward to the imposition of a new law that is due, from March 1, to ban tobacco smoking in enclosed public places such as pubs, restaurants and discos, according to a UPI story quoting The Santiago Times.

Co-ordinator Lezak Shallat, of Chile’s Free Tobacco organization, said smoking cost the country $2.5 billion in health expenses.

Chile had the highest smoking rates in the Americas and, among young people, it had the highest smoking rates in the world, Shallat said.

But at least some business organizations are opposed to the tobacco smoking ban.

President Fernando de la Fuente, of the Chilean Association of Gastronomy, told a news conference the legislation would hit local businesses the hardest.

He said that 40 per cent of venues in the Santiago metropolitan area did not have outdoor terraces and therefore would have to ban smoking completely. Sales were expected to drop as a result, de la Fuente added.