Smoking in Italy has been
banned in
public places including
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
s,
restaurants,
discotheque
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gene ...
s and
office
An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific du ...
s since 2005.
A majority of
Italians
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, flag_caption = The national flag of Italy
, population =
, regions = Italy 55,551,000
, region1 = Brazil
, pop1 = 25–33 million
, ref1 =
, region2 ...
supported the ban at the time it was first implemented,
but there was a lack of support from smokers and some bar owners.
5% of bar and restaurant owners immediately introduced separate smoking rooms.
History
Early anti-smoking legislation was introduced in Italy when on November 11, 1975, law no. 584 was passed, prohibiting smoking on
public transport
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...
and in some public places such as hospitals, cinemas, theaters, universities, museums, and libraries.
In 1986, Health Minister
Costante Degan unsuccessfully tried to implement a smoking ban in bars and restaurants, but the push would be neglected amid other concerns.
After almost two decades, a comprehensive ban of smoking in all public places was finally introduced by Health Minister
Girolamo Sirchia on January 16, 2003, making
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
the 4th European country to introduce a smoking ban in all public places.
Heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
s in Italian adults dropped significantly following the implementation of the smoking ban. The decline in heart attacks was attributed to less
passive smoking
Passive smoking is the inhalation of tobacco smoke, called secondhand smoke (SHS), or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), by persons other than the intended "active" smoker. It occurs when tobacco smoke enters an environment, causing its inhalat ...
.
Health Minister
Girolamo Sirchia said that smoking was the leading
preventable cause of death
Preventable causes of death are causes of death related to risk factors which could have been avoided. The World Health Organization has traditionally classified death according to the primary type of disease or injury. However, causes of death ...
in Italy.
The ban caused an 8% decrease in cigarette consumption.
However, rates of
law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules
Rule or ruling may refer to:
Education ...
are not uniform in the country; higher in
Northern Italy,
Tuscany
it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Citizenship
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 = Italian
, demogra ...
and
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
, much lower in
Southern Italy, especially in
Calabria (70%) and
Campania
(man), it, Campana (woman)
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, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demog ...
(76%).
Prevalence
The smoking rate in Italy between 2000 and 2020 is about 23.7%; slightly higher than the United States' 21.8%. Furthermore, data shows a general downward trend in smoking rate between 2000 and 2016. In 2005 when smoking was banned in public places the rate was about 25.6% and fell to the current level of about 23.7% showing that the law did in fact limit and discourage citizens from smoking.
See also
*
Health in Italy
Further reading
* ''Fumo: Italy's Love Affair with the Cigarette'' by Carl Ipsen, 2016, Stanford University Press
References
Politics of Italy
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
Health in Italy
{{Italy-stub