Milan City Council will prohibit smoking tobacco outdoors within 10 meters of other people, starting January 1, 2025 with the aim of improving air quality, although The use of electronic cigarettes will be allowed.
The measure is part of the “Air and Climate Plan”, which seeks to reduce emissions of harmful substances into the city’s air, after “numerous clinical studies have shown that exposure to polluting substances present in the air of Milan causes damage to health,” explains the Consistory on its website.
“Starting January 1, 2025, the smoking ban will be extended to all outdoor public areas, except in isolated places where it is possible to respect a distance of at least 10 meters from other people,” the note states.
Since January 2021, smoking is prohibited in Milan in parks, public transport stops, sports facilities and cemeteries, and in early 2025 it will be extended to all outdoor public places, including sidewalks.
It has not yet been specified how the application of this regulation will be regulated.although everything seems to indicate that it will be a deterrent measure rather than a punitive one, according to local media.
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In any case, if the Milan City Council maintains the fines of the current prohibitions, those who fail to comply with the regulations They risk sanctions ranging from 40 to 240 euros.
The bans exempt the use of electronic cigarettes, widespread in Italy, which They can continue to be used without limitations.
According to the latest data published by the Italian National Statistics Institute (ISTAT), in 2023, in Italy, 18.7% of those over 11 years of age consider themselves smokersa percentage that increases notably among young people, reaching maximums in the age group of 25 to 34 years (26.9%).
“In Milan, for many years, limit values for several pollutants are not respected“, explained the City Council in its note, “and as a consequence, the levels of atmospheric pollution have a significant impact on citizens,” even “reducing life expectancy by 2 or 3 years”.
Specifically, we want to address excess suspended particles with a diameter greater than 10 micrometers (PM10) and nitrogen dioxide.
Tobacco use is among the main sources of PM10 emissionsalong with road transport, the use of solvents and “combustion due to pizzerias with wood ovens”, among others.
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The City Council continues with the application of the Air Quality Regulation, despite the fact that in 2021 and 2022 the Regional Court of Appeal (TAR) of Lombardy annulled some of its proposals, such as the ban on lighting fireworks.
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