Tobacco.org

• Estonian smoke out 

In her remarks released on the occasion of the World No Tobacco Day, Estonia's Social Affairs Minister Maret Maripuu underlined the importance of quitting smoking and called on residents to break the habit.

The minister noted that a couple of years ago Estonia made a very important decision for the sake of the health of all residents, banning smoking in catering establishments.

"I believe that many of us met the decision with a feeling of relief, as tobacco smoke will no longer spoil our enjoyment of food, our clothes will no longer smell of cigarettes after a visit to a restaurant and it's safer to go out to eat with a child," she said. Maripuu said that according to a recent survey both the employees at the establishments as well as customers, are satisfied with the restrictions on smoking.

The pollster TNS Emor found in a survey commissioned by an importer of stop smoking aides, that 60 percent of smokers in Estonia are men from Tallinn or the northeastern Ida-Viru county who in most cases have secondary education and earn less than 3,500 kroons per household member per month.

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