Jump to full article: The Guardian (uk), 2001-01-06
Author: Ian Traynor
Intro: The country ushered in the new year with some of the most sweeping measures against smoking yet seen in Europe. Its "law on tobacco", which took effect on Wednesday, bans cigarettes in all public places, from offices to the stairwells of blocks of flats.
The no-smoking signs are being hung up in every indoor gathering place. . .
Not even the street is safe. Under-age smokers caught lighting up become liable to a £400 fine - a huge sum by local standards - and callers to a a radio phone-in programme in Tallinn this week were relishing the prospect of reprimanding anti-social elements taking a puff at bus stops.
Mr Meri, 72 in March, is a heavy smoker of Marlboro Lights. "He doesn't smoke in public places, and he always tells photographers not to snap him when he is smoking," his spokeswoman, Epp Alatalu, said. "But he smokes far too much."
And he is going to exploit a let-out which allows ventilated smoking rooms if there is a sufficiently strong demand. When he returns from his New Year holiday his office in the presidential palace will be fitted with the specified fans to let him puff lawfully.
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