Croatia Lifestyle - Smoking in Croatia

It may be non pc to write about the joys of smoking in Croatia when all around are banning it in every conceivable “public” place, but Croatia’s attitude to smoking exemplifies many aspects of life here. This article was inspired by the new “sailing edition” of one of the local brands, Ronhill Lights. As you can see in the photo, the design on the pack is worthy of a multi million pound British Airways rebranding project and might yet feature on the tail of their planes for the summer season! What’s the message? Well, of course, sailing and smoking go together like nautical tourism and ecological damage!

Yes, it’s a dangerous habit, and Croatia only publishes health warnings on the packs in small letters, and no where near as terrifying as the messages on European produced cigarettes, but thankfully Croatia is far from becoming a nanny state. It leaves individuals to decide what to do with their money and their health within a basic legislative framework that, in this case, is remarkably free from the bureaucracy found elsewhere. If you want to smoke, it will cost you about £1.50 a packet and you can do so almost anywhere, virtually guilt free. No doubt this will all change as EU entry approaches but for smokers feeling persecuted elsewhere in the world, Croatia, relatively speaking, is a smoker’s paradise. Evangelical non smokers should not however despair or let this put them off a Croatian holiday. You’ll be eating, drinking and swimming out of doors and there’s plenty of fresh air to go round.