Tobacco.org

Mexico City's smoking ban draws praise, and fire  

"It's going to force me to stop," said Hernandez, a student at an elite university in southern Mexico City. "It's not worth it to be out someplace and then have to leave in order to smoke."

Mexico City's legislative assembly on Tuesday passed a smoking ban for public places as draconian as any in the world. Once the ban is implemented, as early as next month, smoking will be banned completely from any public space -- including offices, malls, restaurants and bars.

Also Tuesday, Mexico's Senate followed the lead of the lower house of congress in approving a nationwide, if less severe, ban on public smoking. The federal law would require designated smoking areas for most public spaces and force restaurants and bars to provide separate walled off rooms for smokers. The law imposes fines of up to $40,000 and even jail time for violators.

Mexico, where an estimated 16 million to 18 million people smoke and some 53,000 die each year from tobacco-related diseases, may be about to go cold turkey.

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