E-cigarettes prohibited by law? The news of the moment

Have e-cigarettes been banned by law? A question that many have asked themselves after the proposal by Health Minister Schillaci. All the news below.

The European Commission has a new goal: to significantly reduce the use of heated flavored tobacco products. A measure that is part of the strategic framework to reduce the use of smoking to 5% of the population of the European Union by 2040. But today where is it not allowed to vape and where is it possible to do so?

For several years the electronic cigarettes they managed to carve out their own space, sheltered and away from the bans and various awareness campaigns against smoking. But the spotlights have also turned on flavored tobacco, to the point that the Ministry of Health led by Orazio Schillaci has proposed a ban on smoking in places where the use of traditional cigarettes has been banned for years, including outdoors.

The famous law 3 of 2003, known as the Sirchia law, should be extended and provide for a ban on smoking even in outdoor places in the presence of pregnant women or minors. We would also like to eliminate the smoking rooms that still exist today within the premises. But the real novelty of these new provisions concerns the e-cig and the products of the heated tobacco.

Electronic cigarettes, limitations in Italy and Europe

Numerous news in 2023 regarding tobacco, after i price increases on cigarettes, the European Commission has decided to crack down on smoking. Of the limitations which in other countries are already effective, as in Thailand where electronic cigarettes have been considered illegal in all respects since 2014. But even in the ‘old continent’ there are those who do not welcome them.

In Italia the red dot is in the school buildings, closed premises, juvenile correctional institutions e cI come in for employment. For the moment, in pub, bar, restaurants e public places there is no prohibition, but the managers have the right to prohibit the use within their own business. The same is also true for i means of transportation public, even if they are closed and very small places.

Sui trains smoking is strictly forbidden but only because all the Italian companies have opted for this decision inside the wagons. Analogous speech for the busregarding a common and uniform directive on the matter, anyone who wants to light up a traditional or electronic cigarette should ask the driver.

in the rest of theEuropa, electronic cigarettes are welcomed without too many constraints. The European Union only provides for the concentration of nicotine contained in refills, with a limit of 20 milligrams. But it does not prohibit their sale, use or advertising. However, countries like Austria e Norway they are attempting to curb its use with restrictions such as selling in stores and vaping.

Are e-cigarettes bad for your health?

The e-liquid in most e-cigarettes contains nicotine, it is the same alkaloid that is found in regular cigarettes and other tobacco products and is addictive. However, nicotine levels are not the same in all types of e-cigs and sometimes product labels do not report the true nicotine content.

A study conducted by the University of Southern California reveals that people who use e-cigarettes and subjects who smoke classic cigarettes have similar gene alterations, influencing the risk of diseases like cancer. The results obtained by American researchers reveal that the use of electronic cigarettes is significantly associated with an alteration of gene transcription due to exposure to chemical substances that are present in the vapor of e-cigarettes.

However, e-cigarettes are still quite new and more research is needed to know what the long-term effects might be and if they really pose as much health risks to people as traditional cigarettes.