Somebody on Quora asked:
What is one thing you think Israel could learn from other countries’ cultures?
I answered:
It is not one of the most famous things about Ireland, but the country was actually a world pioneer in enforcing second hand smoking legislation.
As an asthmatic, I remember not being able to even step foot inside bars as a child due to the plumes of smoke that would stick to your clothing for hours (a phenomenon that nowadays is recognized as third-hand smoke exposure!). These days, you won’t find a bar in the country with a patron lighting up. Not one.
Largely as a result of these measures, the smoking rate in Ireland fell from 29% to 22% in the space of ten years.
Today, Israel is a far, far smokier place than Ireland.
It is one of the few countries in the world in which smoking rates are on the rise, sadly. Enforcement is notably lax. I have often been in bars, convenience stores and even inside the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station where people were smoking indoors in flagrant violation of the law.
Taxis also often reek of stale cigarettes. It is even hard to find a space in a beer garden sometimes without all your neighbors lighting up cigarettes and blowing cigarette smoke into your face (as you can tell, I am not a fan!). Whatever the statistics say, one encounters far more smokers in Israel than in Ireland — and people smoking where, by law, they shouldn’t be.
So, I would say that anti-smoking legislation is an area in which Israel needs to improve — and Ireland is an excellent role-model.
