Smoking lingers in Hungary, but backlash grows

Every third adult in Hungary smokes cigarettes, with half of these consuming more than 10 cigarettes a day, a new study by Szinapszis and WEBBeteg.hu has revealed.

The survey found that men are more likely than women to smoke by 10 percentage points, and men who smoke also consume more cigarettes, with one fifth of them considered heavy smokers.

Illness does not seem to keep Hungarians from smoking. Among patients of chronic illnesses, the number of smokers is only 4% lower than among healthy individuals.

As Hungarians get older, they change their opinion on whether smoking is an illness. The older the respondent, the more likely they were to consider the habit an illness.

Among the survey's respondents, 46% said they would ban smoking at all "catering venues" (vendéglátóhelyek), 14% only at restaurants, and 40% said it was enough for restaurants to have a smoking section. Of smokers, 18% would ban smoking only at restaurants, 21% at all catering venues, and 61% said they think smoking sections at restaurants are sufficient to solve the problem.

In related news, smoking will be banned at playgrounds in Budapest's District XII from January 1, the local government has announced. Violators of the regulation can be fined for up to Ft 30,000 (€115). The ban was accepted following an initiative by District Mayor Zoltán Pokorni. In October, Districts I and XVIII passed similar regulations.

• Email
• Save to My Caboodle