This page was last edited on: October 10, 2019
Yes
As a member of the EU, tobacco product regulation falls mainly under the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD). Under the TPD, Greece has implemented regulations concerning tobacco product flavors, ingredients, warning labels, advertising bans, and sales resticitions. Smokeless tobacco products for oral use are banned, and e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn products are allowed and subject to ingredient, packaging, warning label, and advertising restrictions.
Greeks have strong cultural associations with smoking. It is associated with friends, pleasure, and relaxation. Smoking is an accepted tradition, so there is little discussion about motivation or social pressure to quit.
Greeks have a high awareness about electronic cigarettes and vaping devices.
“Greeks aren’t highly motivated to quit. There is plenty of education, and we have smoking cessation centers, but they are not popular. There is not a lot of social pressure to quit smoking. Although there are laws prohibiting indoor smoking, those laws are not obeyed. So that reduces the social pressure. So, the smoker tends to forget the reasons why smoking is bad for you. Most Greek smokers only quit when they develop disease.”
– Konstantinos Farsalinos, MD, cardiologist and tobacco control researcher
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