In Milan, smoking is no longer trendy: the Italian capital of fashion and finance has decided to ban cigarettes outside from January 1, a first on the peninsula.
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La Dolce Vita will now be experienced without tobacco for the inhabitants of Milan and for the tourists who come every year to visit the great city in Northern Italy. The decision may well arouse the anger of die-hard smokers in Milan, but cigarettes will be banned outdoors from January 1 and offenders could have to pay a heavy fine, up to 240 euros.
According to the “Air Quality Ordinance” adopted in 2020 by Milan, “ from January 1, 2025, the smoking ban is extended to all public spaces, including streets “. In detail, smoking will be prohibited in all public places… unless you are in ” isolated places where it is possible to maintain a distance of at least ten meters from other people “. A fairly restrictive condition for a city with nearly 7,500 inhabitants per km2.
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For the town hall, it is a question of both discouraging smokers and improving the quality of ambient air – according to a figure put forward by the city authorities, smoking contributes 7% to pollution in the fine particles. Electronic cigarettes are not affected by the measure.
With this measure, Milan places itself at the forefront of the fight against passive smoking in an increasingly repressive international context for nicotine lovers. Among the most ambitious countries, the United Kingdom wishes to gradually become tobacco-free, according to a bill currently being adopted, people born after 2009 will in particular never be able to legally purchase cigarettes.
In the Lombard capital, smoking had already been banned since 2021 in public green spaces, except when it was possible to respect a safety distance of ten meters, in children’s play areas, at bus stops and train stations. taxi, as well as in all sports facilities.
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