Italy preparing for further tobacco smoking bans

Italy is making moves to ban tobacco smoking in outdoor areas such as parks, beaches and stadiums, and to stop actors lighting up on film and television sets, according to a story in The Local.

And according to a story in La Repubblica, smoking could be banned in cars, ‘especially’ – but presumably not exclusively – when ‘children’ are being carried as passengers.

Ten years after smoking was banned in indoor public places in Italy, the country’s Health Minister, Beatrice Lorenzin, said further restrictions on smokers were being explored.

“Restrictions will be narrowed further,” Lorenzin was quoted as saying.

“We’ll begin with films and cars with children on board, and then we’ll assess eventual new measures. It’s a subject to be explored, and will eventually lead to a debate.”

On January 10 2005, Italy became the third country in Europe after Ireland and Norway to bring in a smoking ban in indoor public places including bars, cafés and nightclubs.

Since the so-called Sirchia Law was introduced, the number of smokers in Italy has fallen from 23.8 percent to 19.5 percent, according to figures from Istat, the national statistics agency, though this is not to say that the smoking ban was the cause of or even part of the cause of the fall.

Italy recently banned smoking in outdoor spaces at schools while the minimum age to buy cigarettes was raised to 18.