Together with the enforcement of the law for non-smoking “Passive smoking – there is nothing passive here”   The Law for protection against smoking is going to be put into force on 1 January 2006, which does not allow smoking in public places, such as restaurants, coffee bars, offices etc. Smoking will be only allowed in special rooms or places. The owners of restaurants and bars can also completely forbid smoking in their places. For the companies that do not obey the law, there will be strict sanctions. The fines will vary between 500 and 2000 euros. Smokers smoking in public places will also be fined. Together with the preparations for the law enforcement, there is a campaign going on under the motto “Passive smoking – there is nothing passive here”, realized in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and USAID. The statistics say the following: the Macedonian smokers smoke 2 310 cigarettes a year on average, thus losing 17 years of their life and shortening the life of the people in its immediate surrounding. It is estimated that 40 to 50 percent of the population in Macedonia, aged over 15 are regular smokers. In the words of Theresa Arbour from USAID, the target group of the campaign “Passive smoking – there is nothing passive here” are the non-smokers, that is making them not be shy and tell the smokers not to light a cigarette when they are around. “In America, the smokers are “illegal”, they are those who are ashamed. Smoking in America is becoming socially unacceptable behaviour. The non-smokers don’t let smokers poison them. The campaign in Macedonia follows the example of a similar campaign implemented in Ireland, which is also a country where big percentage of the population smokes. The campaign was greatly accepted and it showed remarkable results”, says Arbour. It is clear that if the non-smokers don’t “wake up”, no law will function. What do the non-smokers get when they inhale the smoke of other people’s cigarettes? The passive smoking can increase the risk of getting lung cancer to from 20 to 30 percent, heart diseases for 25 to 35 percent and a heart attack to 80 percent. The air in a smoking room contains 4 000 chemicals, some of which are known to cause cancer! The examinations of the World Health Organization made in the year 2000 showed that Macedonia is on the 11th place regarding mortality of children caused by respiratory infections. Smoking is the second big reason that causes death in the world. Five million people die in world every year due to this negative habit.   M.K.