Costa
Rican
Authorities
To
Get
Tough
On
Smokers
Starting
This
Week
Although
the
regulations
and
enforcements,
nor
where
to
pay
the
fines,
is
in
place
the
Ministerio
de
Salud
says
it
will
start
this
week
visiting
bars
and
restaurants
around
the
country
to
ensure
compliance
to
the
Ley
de
Antitabaco.
"From
next
week
we
will
visit
these
places,
the
Minister
also
informed
by
the
regional
establishments
must
remove
any
sign
that
indicates
smoking
area"
said
Roberto
Castro,
Director
of
Surveillance
of
the
Ministry
of
Health,
to
the
press
last
week.
With
the
move
the
the
smoking
ban
comes
into
its
full
rigor
this
week,
and
that
all
establishments
are
aware,
if
not
met
will
take
the
necessary
measures.
The
sanctions
against
bars
and
restuarants,
for
example,
can
be a
fine
and
include
the
suspension
of
the
operating
permit.
If a
bar
or
restaurant
loses
their
"permiso
sanitario"
it
will
then
have
to
then
initiate
the
complicated
of
getting
it
back.
Reports
sent
in
to
Inside
Costa
Rica
indicate
that
the
local
municipal
police
in
San
José
last
week
visited
a
number
of
bars
and
restaurants
and
issued
warnings.
In
many
places
smokers
are
being
asked
to
go
outside
to
feed
their
habit,
some
having
to
take
to
the
sidewalks
of
the
public
streets
as
the
debate
centres
on
whether
a
parking
lot
is
deemed
part
of
the
bar
or
restaurant.
In
malls,
like
Multiplaza
in
Escazú,
an
ICR
reader
informs
that
he
was
asked
by a
security
guard
to
snuff
out
while
sitting
his
his
vehicle,
parked
in
the
malls
parking
lot,
while
smoking.
"Where
am I
to
go,
to
the
pista?",
was
the
rhetorical
question.
One
of
the
requirements
under
the
law
is
that
establishments
post
anti-smoking
signs.
