A man smokes a cigarette
© AFP Aris Messinis

ATHENS, Jan 4 (AFP) - Welcome to Greece, the last sanctuary for smokers in a European Union at war with nicotine.

"Non-smokers do not entirely feel at home in this country, and with cause," laments John Kosdouros, the head of the Greek anti-smoking society, a citizens group.

"There are laws against smoking, but they are not applied, and nobody dares sanction those who break them," he says.

Ranked second in tobacco production in Europe, Greece is also the EU's most prolific consumer of the "nicotiana tabacum" -- an estimated 45 percent of the Greek population lights up on a regular basis.

Women almost as much as men: nearly half of Greece's men puff their way through more than 18 cigarettes a day, while fully 40 percent of women inhale upward of 15.

This, despite a bundle of legislation passed three years ago outlawing smoking in public places, and designating special areas for restaurants and cafes.

"Whether at the bank, in shops or in any public place, people here smoke," says Kosdouros. "Bizarrely, the rule is only enforced aboard public transport."

The situation is hardly better in the Greek civil service, despite a profusion of yellowing "No Smoking" printouts on office walls.

"Nobody respects the ban in our ministry," says Markos, a 47-year-old, chain-smoking civil servant who declined to give his last name.

"One non-smoking colleague makes a fuss every day, and threatens to call the health service, but I'm not too worried -- our directors also smoke," he notes.

A woman smokes outside a coffee-shop in central Athens
© AFP Aris Messinis

But even in this smokers' paradise stirrings of change are in the air, says Maria Pilali, an activist with the Greek anti-cancer society who heads a local, EU-financed programme against smoking.

"It's true that if you make comparisons with the progress made in Ireland and Italy, we are far behind," Pilali says.

"But compared to the situation a few years ago, the Greek mentality is evolving," she notes. "For example, fewer people nowadays believe that smoking constitutes a rite of passage into manhood."

Increased media interest in campaigns on the adverse effects of tobacco also indicates a change in views, adds Pilali.

"A few years ago, journalists wouldn't even turn up to our press conferences," she says. "This is no longer true."

But will stiffer smoking regulations -- as recently passed in Spain -- lead to a fall in Greek tobacco consumption? Given Greek attitudes towards authority, Pilali doubts it.

"Greeks don't like having rules imposed on them," she says. "It's wiser to play on people's conscience, by repeating that tobacco is very dangerous to one's health."

Still, there are exceptions to this rule. Lambrakis Press, one of Greece's largest publishing groups, enacted -- and enforced -- a smoking ban in July 2004 in its new corporate headquarters. Not only has the restriction been respected, but it seems to have helped some staffers quit.

"The move passed without trouble," says Romolo Gandolfo, the group's director for international affairs. "We now have a small room for smokers on each floor, and there's rarely more than three people inside at a time."

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