RIGA - Eva Feifere sits at a table in Orange Bar, beer in her left hand, cigarette in her right. Accompanied by her two closest friends, she laughs at a joke and then takes a long, lingering puff on her Barclay 's for the last time. Soon it will turn midnight, the calendar will switch to July, and every customer will have to put out his or her cigarette for good.
On July 1, Latvia joined Europe's growing campaign to eradicate public smoking, implementing a law that restricts the use of tobacco products in cafes, bars, restaurants and gambling halls. Riga's smokers must now begrudgingly climb out of their cafe seats, leaving drinks behind, and light up outdoors.
"I'll die," exclaims Feifere, who's been smoking for six years. "I can't imagine going to bars and not smoking, especially when you're drinking alcohol. Okay, in the summer it's fine to step outside, but what about in the winter, when it's minus 30 degrees?"
Under the new regulations, public venues are required to designate a special area 's separate from the rest of the premises 's for smoking, the Health Ministry reported. The law, which Parliament originally passed in January 2005, also applies to summer cafes, higher education establishments, social care and rehabilitation centers, cinemas, concert halls, sports venues and other public facilities.
"This is actually an old law 's from 1997. But it was recently amended in Parliament to ban smoking in cafes, restaurants and other public places," says Zaiga Barvida, head of the Health Ministry's communication division. "Parliament decided to wait more than a year to implement the law so that cafe and restaurant owners had time to prepare 's to build special smoking rooms and ventilation systems."
Although some cafes and restaurants used this preparation period to remodel their premises for smoking areas, most establishments decided they would just ban smoking outright, Barvida says.
Teatra Bars, a popular one-room cafe across the street from Riga's New Theater, is one such example.
'"Our smokers will just have to settle for smoking on the sidewalk," says Skarleta Mincenko, a waitress who's worked at the bar for two years. "We just don't have room for an additional smoking area."
Although critics of the law complain that it will harm business, Mincenko isn't worried. "If Teatra Bars is a dear and important place to smokers, then they'll be understanding of the new rules and continue to come," she says.
Of course some people, the waitress adds, will try to weasel their way around the new legislation. In fact, she's already had to put up with a few.
"[On June 30,] we reminded our guests that it was the last night they could smoke here 's so they better enjoy it," Mincenko recalls. "I already had a few clients beg me to let them smoke. 'I promise I won't tell anyone,' they said."
If Latvian businesses are caught ignoring the new law, they are penalized with a fine. But Barvida says the penalty 's a maximum of 200 lats (288 euros) 's isn't severe enough.
"I think this fine is too small," she states. "Owners will pay the money and go on ignoring the law. [The Health Ministry and police] will run an investigation during the first weeks, to check up on cafes and see if they're following the new law."
Authorities are taking the law seriously, and there have been reports of inspectors showing up in the wee hours of morning to ensure that there's no "stray smoke" in bars and slot machine halls.
But Mincenko asserts that she, along with her co-workers, will be stern with difficult customers: "A law is a law. Under no circumstances will we let customers smoke."
After all, the legislation was designed to protect people such as Mincenko, one of Riga's thousand-some employees who spend hours on end breathing in second-hand smoke.
It's no longer a secret that nicotine and tobacco harm not only smokers, but also those who breathe in the contaminated air. An estimated 79,000 people in Europe die each year from second-hand smoke, and in Latvia the figure is 1,507.
Little surprise then, that the EU is cracking down on public smoking. The first member state to pass a complete ban on public smoking was Ireland in 2004, followed by Norway, Italy and most recently Lithuania. Other countries, including Estonia and Latvia, have passed partial bans.
According to Latvian Health Ministry regulations, all establishments serving food are required to post signs designating smoking and non-smoking rooms. The smoking area must have a working ventilation system and make up less than 50 percent of the premises. Eating and drinking is not allowed in the room.
Regardless, most bars and restaurants, Barvida says, don't have smoking rooms, and staff will have to ask their guests to step outside for a puff. This is a reasonable idea, she adds, since the ministry is planning to introduce stricter anti-smoking regulations in the near future.
"In 2008, like in the airlines, there will be no smoking in bars and cafes at all," she divulges.
And like the airlines, Barvida points out, people will continue to frequent bars and restaurants, just as they did before. "Businesses in other non-smoking countries haven't gone bankrupt, the cafes are still working. In fact, now more non-smokers can frequent and enjoy these cafes."
Those most grateful for the law, are employees. Speaking candidly, Mincenko says she's relieved the ban is finally in effect.
"After a long night waiting tables in a smoky room, you're just dying for some fresh air," she says. "I think this law is a very good move."
