Cuba Limits Smoking in Longevity Drive

Feb. 5, 2005 -- -- Cuban President Fidel Castro is trying to junk his Caribbean island's image as a place where you can smoke fabulous cigars and black tobacco cigarettes anywhere, banning smoking in most enclosed public spaces as of Monday.

The move is part of a new crusade by Castro, 78, to raise his nation's life expectancy from the current 75 to 76 years, to 80 years by 2010.

Cuba's public health system stresses prevention -- from the 13 free vaccines children receive to the family doctor offices and clinics in every neighborhood. But longevity has not increased for over a decade, and Castro has been told smoking is a major reason.

Many Cubans are skeptical even the "maximum leader" can make the new law stick.

Cuban nurse Yuleisis Fonseca says Castro will need an army of "extraterrestrials" to enforce the ban, and that the doctors where she works are the first to smoke and will be the last to stop.

Fonseca did not know that smoking in Cuban health establishments and educational facilities was prohibited in the 1990s.

"You're not serious," the 27-year-old exclaimed when told, bursting into laughter.

The new law prohibits smoking "in all enclosed or air-conditioned locales open to the public, meeting places, theatres, cinemas and video halls, [by] drivers and passengers [in] taxis, trains and buses, and in all sporting facilities for athletes and workers."

Smoking will be restricted to designated areas in restaurants and night clubs. Selling cigarettes to children under age 16 is out, or from stores within 100 yards of schools.

"The objective is … to contribute to a change in the attitudes of our population," the resolution reads.

That will not be easy.

Retiree Aracelio Martinez gave a disgusted look as he eyed the cigar smoke curling upward from his lips at a local bar and restaurant.

"More people die from car accidents than smoking, and no one tries to prohibit cars from the road," he said.