Total goodbye to smoking, or almost. Soon it will be forbidden by law to smoke outdoors: the provision already in draft and developed by Health technicians, provides that it is no longer possible to light a cigarette or an e-cig at the outdoor tables of bars and restaurants , as well as at the always open-air metro, bus, train and ferry stops.
For the rest, what was announced last month by the Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci, is confirmed, with the ban on smoking indoors also extended to vaping products, Iqos and similar to overheated tobacco. In fact, the former are not currently subject to any limitation, except in schools and open spaces adjacent to hospitals as well as inside them, while the latter, being a new product, are not regulated at all, even though they produce actual smoke that does not dissolves in the air like e-cigarette vapor.
Goodbye to smoking lounges set up in airports and other indoor venues. Finally, there will also be a squeeze on the advertising of electronic cigarettes of various types, for which the rigid limits already imposed on traditional smoking products will apply, for which any form of direct or indirect advertising is prohibited. The fine for violating the new prohibitions is 275 euros, reduced by 50% if paid within 60 days. The same penalty is foreseen for those who break the ban on traditional indoor smoking.
And also for e-cigs and Iqos, as well as for traditional tobacco-based products smoked outdoors, it will not be the managers of the premises who will be able to impose the sanctions, but the traffic wardens or the police forces called by them in case of non-compliance with the prohibition introduced by the “Sirchia law” 20 years ago and until now broken by few.