From: [C reuters] at [clari.net] (Reuters)
Newsgroups: clari.news.issues.smoking,clari.world.americas.brazil,clari.news.issues.misc,clari.world.americas.south
Subject: Brazil's smokers defy new anti-smoking law
Organization: Copyright 1996 by Reuters
Date: Wed, 17 Jul 1996 15:00:21 PDT
Expires: Wed, 24 Jul 1996 15:00:21 PDT
                                         
         RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuter) - Brazil's new federal law banning  
smoking in public areas went up in smoke on Wednesday, only a 
day after going into effect. 
         People continued to light up freely on buses, in restaurants  
and bars in spite of the new law, which bans smoking in enclosed 
public areas except in specially designated zones for smokers. 
         Even lawmakers defied their own rules, and cigarette smoke  
filled congressional chambers in Brasilia. 
         ``There are far more important things for the government to  
worry about,'' said psychologist Maria Angelica, enjoying a 
cigarette over lunch in a crowded Rio restaurant. ``The law 
won't be applied in practice anyway, as always in Brazil.'' 
         An insurance salesman sitting a few tables away from her in  
the non-smoking section thought much the same, saying the law 
was ``just another joke by the government'' that would do little 
for the rights of non-smokers. 
         Restaurant manager Jose Pereira admitted he would rather pay  
fines for breaking the new law than reprimand or turn away 
clients who wanted to smoke. 
         The government has yet to decide how to punish those who  
break the law. It also has to define precisely where smoking is 
banned. 
         Some 80,000 Brazilians die every year from smoking-related  
illnesses such as heart disease and lung cancer.