煙草在線據《經濟學人》報道編譯　　卷煙，如一代又一代的學子被教的那樣，是從美洲和土豆以及成堆的黃金一起被帶到歐洲的。拉丁美洲仍沉迷于這些東西。但是歐洲地區已經開始嘗試戒掉這個習慣。3月，智利成為第14個禁止在封閉的公共場所吸煙的拉美國家。

　　智利的轉換是重要的，因為它是一個吸煙者的天堂。世界衛生組織說超過40%的智利人吸煙，相比之下，27%的阿根廷人和17%的巴西人吸煙，智利于1990年代末開始限制吸煙。智利衛生部長杰米·馬那里奇說，治療的煙草受害者耗費了100億美元公共衛生保健預算的四分之一。

　　智利的煙民越來越年輕。據行業的一份研究《卷煙圖冊》顯示，在智利首都圣地亞哥，近40%的13-15歲的女孩抽煙。這高于2003年的20%，是世界上最高的吸煙率。這在一定程度上要歸咎于智利的日益繁榮。馬那里奇先生還指出了文化變革的因素：“智利一直是一個很有男子氣概的國家，但是正在改變。對于女性來說，在公共場所吸煙是她們解放了的標志。”

　　拉丁美洲的吸煙新限制，面臨著來自行業的阻力。美國煙草公司菲莫國際，在世界銀行的國際投資爭端解決中心對烏拉圭提起了訴訟，聲稱這個國家的禁煙措施違反了雙邊投資條約。世界第三大煙葉生產國巴西，面臨著來自保護工作的種植園主的壓力。

　　反煙游說者希望看到整個拉丁美洲卷煙的價格和稅收是一致的，以阻止走私品。各國之間的收入差距很大，這將是個難題。但政府可以用其他措施阻止吸煙，比如限制廣告、更大的健康警語和尼古丁替代療法。

　　“只有撒旦才能賦予人通過口腔排出煙的能力，”第一個把煙草帶入歐洲的哥倫布的水手之一羅德里戈·德·赫雷斯在西班牙法庭上被審訊時說。拉美各國政府現在似乎同意這種說法。

Chile: Smoking in Latin America: Stubbed out

　　TOBACCO, as generations of schoolchildren have been taught, was brought to Europe from the Americas along with potatoes and piles of gold. Latin America remains addicted to the stuff. But the region has now begun to try to kick the habit. This month Chile became the 14th Latin American country to ban smoking in enclosed public spaces.

　　Chile's conversion is significant, since it is something of a smokers' corner. The World Health Organisation says over 40% of Chileans smoke, compared with 27% of Argentines and 17% of people in Brazil, where curbs on smoking began in the late 1990s. Chile's health minister, Jaime Ma?alich, says that treating tobacco victims takes a quarter of the $10 billion public health-care budget.

　　Chile's smokers are getting younger. According to the Tobacco Atlas, a study of the industry, nearly 40% of girls aged 13-15 in Santiago, Chile's capital, smoke cigarettes. That is up from just 20% in 2003, and is the highest rate in the world. Growing prosperity is partly to blame. Mr Ma?alich also points to a cultural change: "Chile has always been a very macho country but that is changing. For women, smoking in public is somehow a sign they are liberated."

　　Latin America's new curbs on smoking face resistance from the industry. Philip Morris International, an American tobacco company, has filed a claim against Uruguay at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, an arm of the World Bank, claiming that the country's anti-smoking measures violate a bilateral investment treaty. Brazil, the world's third-biggest producer of tobacco leaf, faces pressure from its planters to protect their jobs.

　　The anti-smoking lobby wants to see pricing and taxing of cigarettes be co-ordinated across Latin America, to discourage contraband. With income varying widely among countries, that would be hard. But governments could discourage smoking with other steps, such as curbs on advertising, bigger health warnings and subsidising nicotine-replacement therapy.

　　"Only Satan can grant man the faculty of expelling smoke through the mouth," declared the Spanish Inquisition in imprisoning Rodrigo de Jerez, one of Columbus's sailors, and the first person to bring tobacco to Europe. Latin American governments now seem to agree. Enditem