Just a few hours after the official launch of the Smoking Ban in closed places, the modern cunning Odysseus found a way to smoke in a cafe without fearing the fine, especially when it’s freezing cold outside.
The solution is simple provided the smoker stands or sits by the windows of the facility.
Two holes and a straw protect the smoker and the cafe owner from the juicy fines of 100 and 500 euros respectively.
The video from the village Rodolivos by Serres in Northern Greece has gone viral – of course.
Another smoker, obviously not so cunning, had to pay a fine after a denouncing phone call to hot line <1142>. The respond of authorities in Lamia was immediate, the smoking customer and the owner of the cafe paid 100 and 500 euros respectively.
I’d want to see the wording of the law, but it seems to me that it’s the man who is smoking and he’s in an enclosed space and this is therefore illegal. A cigarette cannot smoke itself (nor commit an offence) so the location of the cigarette is immaterial, it’s the location of the person that matters.