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Greek-Australian Restaurant & Bar Owners Worried Over Planned Smoking Ban

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Greek-Australian bar and restaurant owners are concerned over the Victorian's government plan to ban smoking in outdoor dinning venues.

The future smoking restriction is set to take place in outdoor drinking and dining sections in the state. Health Minister David Davis has confirmed that the nonsmoking protocol will be enacted within the next five years.

Effie Katsakis who manages Melissa Cake Cafe, voiced her worries to Neos Kosmos, "People come here specifically because we have an outdoor area that is utilised for smoking. They know it's warm and they know they can sit outside and smoke".

Katsakis described, "But a lot of people don't want to sit outside, they don't want to sit anywhere near it if there's smoking in the area...They in fact complain if there's smoke coming into other areas of restaurant." Currently the cafe's outdoor area is sectioned in half, where the better area is reserved for smokers. This divide has frustrated nonsmoking patrons.

Katsakis commented, "It's a little bit of a double edged sword. I'm literally caught in the middle, trying to please both sets of people...They're saying we should be able to sit outside as non-smokers and enjoy the view without having the smokers inhibit us...And then we've got the smokers saying we've got a right to smoke, we're outside, we're not harming anybody".

The same type of restriction has been recommended in Oakleigh's Greek Mecca of Eaton Mall, which angered many of its customers. Patrons and owners both signed smoke allowing petitions, while the Cancer Council has determined that 49% of 4,000 Victorian residents studied, stated that they didn't enter outdoor eateries due to smokers.