The ban on smoking in indoor public places remains only for standard cigarettes, after the deputies from the Health Committee rejected a proposal to expand it to all types of devices, including vapes and hookahs. The PP-DB bill also provided for giving the Ministry of Interior and inspectors from the Food Agency the authority to fine violators of the ban.
The Tobacco Industry Association has spoken out against increasing the types of smoking products that are prohibited in indoor public places. When restrictions are imposed, one should not act emotionally, but based on analyses of the effect of such a measure, explained Maria Mincheva from the Bulgarian Industrial Chamber:
"We see that in every establishment - both in the cities and in the resorts where we enter, that the prohibitions are not being observed en masse - which means that regardless of the fact that something is adopted in law, the reality does not change. Which is a very clear signal that the problem is somewhere else, not in the regulation of the bans".
Dr. Gergana Geshanova from the Coalition for a Smoke-Free Life expressed her disappointment with the deputies and institutions such as the Ministry of Interior and the Food Safety Agency, who expressed their disagreement to participate in the control of compliance with the ban:
"The Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the Labor Inspectorate should really send their people to participate in this control, so that the control is real and to gain some respect", she said.
One of the sponsors of the bill - Vasil Pandov, recalled that lung cancer is difficult to detect in its early stages, and the mortality rate from the disease is high.