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PRUCHA: Smoking habits 

Although I feel like I’ve answered Anna’s question appropriately, given the moment, I wonder how long it will be before questions about smoking come up again. As we traipse through the city on our way home, we pass several smokers and I note that Anna is at eye level with a cigarette butt held when walking.

Several years ago when I taught English to 8-year-old Michal, he always made a show of pointing, making loud coughing sounds and exclamatory cries of “How disgusting!” in English whenever we encountered someone with a cigarette. While I was embarrassed by the fervor of Michal’s reactions, I had no idea how my feelings would change once I became a mother myself. . . .

According to a recent survey, most Czechs (59%) are in favor of a ban on smoking in restaurants, although a much smaller number (39%) would support smoke-free environments in bars and cafes. However, despite several recent attempts, the Czech Parliament has yet to muster enough votes to pass a smoking ban. One of the strongest opponents is the current Czech President, V�clav Klaus. In spite of being a non-smoker himself, Klaus has repeatedly thrown his weight against the proposed smoking ban in restaurants, sighting it as on infringement on a citizen’s privacy and refusing to acknowledge the harm of second-hand smoke. Although Klaus’s behavior has certainly made passing the legislation much more difficult, the trend in other European countries like Italy and Ireland, and some larger cities including Paris and Berlin, is decidedly anti-smoking and I hope, sooner rather than later, the Czech Republic will join the “in-crowd” of EU member states with smoking regulations.

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