Since the country’s strictest prohibition went into force, smokers in Milan, Italy, run the danger of being punished for lighting up on city streets or in busy public places, reports RTE.
The penalties, which some locals have condemned, may range from €40 to €240 for violators of the new ban in the northern Italian city.
“I think the new law is very harsh. One local resident stated, “I agree that smoking indoors and near children or the elderly is bad, but I feel that smoking outside restricts people’s freedom in some way,” reports RTE.
The municipal council of Milan enacted an air quality policy in 2020 that called for more stringent smoking prohibitions.
Beginning in 2021, smoking was prohibited in playgrounds, parks, and bus stops.
According to the order, “all public spaces, including streets,” are subject to the most recent smoking prohibition, with the exception of “isolated places where it is possible to maintain a distance of at least ten meters from other people,” reports RTE.
According to a statement from local officials, the goal of the move is to “improve the quality of the city’s air, to protect the health of citizens, including protection from passive smoking in public places, also frequented by children” by lowering airborne particles.
56-year-old nonsmoker Stellina Lombardo stated that she was in favour of the more stringent smoking ban, reports RTE.
“I agree very much because smoking is responsible for a lot of pollution, in this era when we suffer a lot from climate change such a measure can help to scale down the effects of pollution that is devastating the planet,” she said, reports RTE.
E-cigarettes are exempt from the prohibition, which is in place prior to the Winter Olympics in Milan in 2026.
Among the most air-polluted cities in Europe, Milan is surrounded by traffic and situated in the centre of the industrial Po Valley.
In 1975, Italy enacted its first nationwide smoking ban, which prohibited smoking in classrooms, public transit, and other places, reports RTE.
The prohibition became a European first in 1995 when it was expanded to public administration offices and to all enclosed public places in 2005.
Based on statistics from 2023, the National Institute of Statistics estimates that 19% of Italians smoke, which is less than the EU average of 24%, reports RTE.
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