Smoking in Colombia is big. Though it’s starting to be banned in some public places, it’s surprising the places where smoking is still allowed, and the number of people who do it is also kind of astounding. This is another way in which Colombia seems like the US 40 years ago. It’s not uncommon to see a politician on TV with a cigarette in his mouth.
When I first arrived in Bogota at El Dorado airport, when I got off the plane the guy in front of me lit up a cigarette. That was kind of a surprise. But about a month later a smoking ban went into effect at El Dorado, so that doesn’t happen anymore.
Colombians who smoke are used to being able to do it in places like other people’s houses. I have had people ask if they can smoke in my apartment, so at least they’re courteous about it, but in the US these days I think people mostly just assume that smoking in someone’s house is not an option.
Almost always on the patio of a restaurant you will find smokers. I assume it’s not allowed inside restaurants in Bogota, but I have seen in often in restaurants in the countryside. And people on TV smoke all the time, which, until I came here, I didn’t really realize wasn’t happening much anymore in the US.
The high school students at my school also smoke a lot, especially the girls. I know lots of high school kids try it even in the US, but in Colombia I think they’re headed to being life-long smokers, and it’s very common to go to a park near a MacDonald’s where kids hang out and see tons of 15-year-olds smoking. Many do it with their parents when they’re out together.
All the street vendors (there’s usually one or more on every block) sell cigarettes. You can also buy single cigarettes from the street vendors and in tiendas (little shops, like 7-11’s). Most cigarettes are cheap, and some brands are really cheap, so I guess they’re not very heavily taxed like we are used to in the US.
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December 16th, 2007 at 8:13 am
Hello BogotaBlogger! I just found your blog and am really enjoying it — I wish I had found it before my 5th or 6th visit to Bogota! A comment about smoking: I think it’s culturally a slightly different situation than it is in the U.S — my fiance is Colombian and he smokes in a way I’ve come to regard as distinctly Colombian — that is, two or three times a day, when he happens to pass a street vendor selling them, and if he happens to be cold or hungry. Lots of his friends have this habit too, but it doesn’t necessarily seem to be an “addiction” per se, because sometimes they’ll go for days without smoking, and then have maybe 1 a day, other days 3 or 4 . . . I’m not really sure what it’s all about, but it doesn’t strike me as being of the same nature as the pack-a-day kind of smoking.
April 27th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Yes, I think you’re right about that…there is a lot more very casual smoking in Colombia. And now that I’m in Turkey where the REAL smokers are, I should probably take it all back!