ROME – Smoking is to be banned in many open-air settings in Italy, 20 years after it was banned indoors, La Stampa newspaper reported on Sunday.
The new ban, covering outside areas of bars, bus stops and parks where children and pregnant women are present, will also cover e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, according to draft decrees the Turin daily said are ready.
The Italian association of Environmental Medicine welcomed the new proposed ban on Monday saying that vaping products were gateway drugs for tobacco addiction.
People who start vaping when they are young will go on to become smokers, they said.
Former minister Carlo Giovanardi, who was instrumental in the 2003 ban on indoor smoking introduced by then health minister Giovanni Sirchia, said "there will be more freedom for all with this new regulation," arguing that "people will still be able to smoke outdoors, but not when there are others present". (ANSA)
