Milan says no to all outdoor smoking in Italy’s toughest ban

People who smoke in Italy’s monetary and vogue capital of Milan threat being fined for lighting up on metropolis streets or crowded public areas, after the nation’s hardest ban got here into impact on Wednesday.

Those that defy the brand new prohibition within the polluted northern Italian metropolis might be fined between 40 and 240 euros ($41 to $249), a punishment that doesn’t sit effectively with all residents.

“I believe this measure is extreme. So long as we’re speaking about an indoor place, I agree. as a result of (smoking) will be bothersome and it isn’t wholesome,” gross sales clerk Myrian Illiano, 21, informed AFP.

“But when we’re speaking about an open place, I do not see why one ought to be restricted.”

Nevertheless, content material creator Chiara Ciuffini, 39, was all in favor of the brand new transfer.

“I agree, as a result of I’m a sporty, non-smoking particular person. I hope people who smoke also can perceive the necessity of nonsmokers who need to breathe cleaner air,” she mentioned.

Milan’s air high quality ordinance, handed in 2020 by the town council, known as for progressively stricter bans on smoking.

Beginning in 2021, it was forbidden to smoke in parks and playgrounds, in addition to bus stops and sports activities amenities.

The newest smoking ban, efficient January 1, applies to “all public areas, together with streets”, aside from “remoted locations the place it’s doable to take care of a distance of at the very least 10 meters from different folks”, in response to the textual content.

Native officers say the measure is geared toward lowering airborne particulates to “enhance the standard of the town’s air, to guard the well being of residents, together with safety from passive smoking in public locations, additionally frequented by kids”, in response to an announcement.

Emanuele Marinoni, vice chairman of the Italian Tobacconists Federation and the proprietor of a tobacco store in Milan, mentioned he expects enterprise to drop by “20 to 30 p.c”.

“When an individual is within the workplace, (to smoke) they transfer to the balcony or to the road. It’s apparent that there’s certain to be a lower in (cigarette) consumption,” he mentioned.

The ban—which comes forward of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics—doesn’t apply to e-cigarettes.

Located in the midst of the economic Po Valley and choked with highway visitors, Milan is one among Europe’s most polluted cities when it comes to air.

Cigarette smoke, “like all combustion, contributes to the creation of superb particles”, mentioned Anna Scavuzzo, Milan’s deputy mayor.

Low cost smokes

Italy’s first nationwide smoking ban, in 1975, prohibited smoking on public transportation and in lecture rooms and sure different areas.

In 1995, the ban was prolonged to public administration areas, and in 2005, to all enclosed public areas, making it on the time a pioneer in Europe.

Some 19 p.c of Italians smoke, in response to the Nationwide Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) primarily based on 2023 knowledge, decrease than the 24 p.c common inside the European Union.

Averaging round six euros a pack in Italy, cigarettes are additionally among the many least expensive in Europe, the place costs of about 10 euros are extra frequent.

Italy’s well being ministry says that 93,000 deaths per 12 months are attributed to smoking.

Smoking is answerable for roughly 85 p.c of all circumstances of lung most cancers, the deadliest most cancers worldwide, in response to the World Well being Group.

Inside the European Union, 17 nations have handed smoke-free laws, with Eire, Greece, Bulgaria, Malta, Spain and Hungary the strictest.

In November, a world-leading proposal in Britain to part out smoking by younger folks handed its first parliamentary hurdle, with lawmakers overwhelmingly voting in favor.

The invoice would stop anybody born after January 1, 2009 from legally smoking by step by step elevating the age at which tobacco will be purchased.

The federal government has mentioned it’s geared toward creating Britain’s first “smoke-free era”.

In Europe, the fewest people who smoke are present in Sweden, the place eight p.c of the inhabitants lights up.

Worst off is Bulgaria, with people who smoke making up 37 p.c.

© 2025 AFP