In west Germany, for instance, taxi driversknown for their independencepost signs saying Nicht Raucher and may refuse passengers who insist on smoking. . . Bans in Poland prevent smoking in factories, offices, snack bars, and other public places. . . And Venezuelans can be fined $ 230 to $ 1,000 for smoking in supermarkets, buses, and numerous other places. Many countries also are moving in step to limit tobacco promotion and eliminate the false claims of the glorification of smoking as a habit.. . says Jean de Moerloose of the United Nations World Health Organization.
While a majority of countries have taken little or no action yet, some 30 nations have introduced legislative steps to control smoking abuse. Many laws have been introduced in other countries to help clear the air for nonsmokers, or to cut cigarette consumption.
In many developing nations, however, cigarette smoking is seen as a sign of economic progressand is even encouraged.
While it appears that in developed countries the consumption of cigarettes has become stabilized, there are some indications that it is still rising at a steady pace in Latin America, says Dr. Daniel J. Joly, an adviser to the Pan American Health Organization.
Despite progress in segregating nonsmokers and smokers, most countries see little change in the number of smokers. In fact, there is a jump in the number of girls and young women starting to smoke.
As more tobacco companies go international, new markets are sought to gain new smokers in developing countries. For example, great efforts are made by the American tobacco industry to sell cigarettes in the Middle East and North Africawhere U. S. tobacco exports increased by more than 27 percent last year, according the U. S. Foreign Agriculture Service. So far, any cooperation between tobacco interests and governments campaigns against smoking has been in the area of tobacco advertising.
Restrictions on cigarette ads, plus health warnings on packages and bans on public smoking in certain places, are the most popular tools used by nations in support of nonsmokers or in curbing smoking.
But world attention also is focusing on other steps which will:
make the smoker increasingly self-conscious and uncomfortable about his habit by publicizing public awareness of the decline of social acceptability of smoking.