Sarkissian signs into law smoking ban

YEREVAN, MARCH 6, ARMENPRESS. President Armen Sarkissian has signed into law the smoking ban bill.

In particular, the law bans smoking in indoor public spaces, including in all restaurants.

“When I was signing the [bills], as President and as a citizen, I was pondering whether it is necessary for a law to exist in order to realize the damage which smoking inflicts to health, family, the environment,” Sarkissian said after signing the bill into law. “Do the strict legal terming of the law really have greater impact than the calls and advices we hear from parents, friends, the stories about health hazards from smoking we read nearly every day?”

Sarkissian also quoted Socrates – “When a man cares for his own health, he won’t find a doctor who will be more useful for his health than himself”.

“It’s never late to quit, and this shouldn’t require the need of any governmental body. I don’t think that an area which first of all requires sober thinking needs a legislative regulation. Certainly, the law draws some boundaries which should be adhered to,” he added.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan