Page 17 - Italian-American Herald - February 2025

ITALIAN-AMERICAN HERALD
FEBRUARY 2025 | ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM 17
NEWS FROM ITALY
New crackdown in Milan marks Italy’s toughest rules on smoking
Italian-American Herald
MILAN - This city has long been considered
a worldwide fashion capital and smoking has
often been seen as fashionable as well, not
just in Milan but across the country. However
fashionable or not, as of midnight on Jan. 1,
2025, smoking was outlawed in “all public
spaces, including the streets” of Milan which
is also Italy’s financial capital. This law
decrees that anyone who lights up outside
faces fines between $41 and $249.
The move marks the toughest smoking
ban in Italy, where nearly a quarter of
the population smokes, according to the
country’s health ministry. The only exception
is when people are in isolated places at least
35 feet from other people.
The ban, which does not include vapes or
electronic cigarettes, is part of a clampdown
focused more on pollution than health,
according to the city council, which passed a
clean air bill in 2020 that included strict bans
on smoking, responsible for 7 percent of all
emissions in Milan and its suburbs. While the
ban started at midnight Jan. 1, officials did
not arrest any revelers, Milan police said.
Lino Stoppani, president of public
business federation Fipe Confcommercio
called the ban “symbolic” and hard to enforce
since business owners are not compelled
to do so. “Without adequate controls, the
ordinance risk remaining measures are
aimed more at raising awareness than at
solving. The positive aspect is that public
businesses are not imposed with the role of
‘carabinieri,’ leaving
the burden of checks
to the competent
authorities,” Stoppani
said in a statement,
referring to local police.
“This is a provision with
several critical issues. For us
it is a provision that will not
have the desired effects, it has
some regulatory weaknesses,
it probably also creates
a bit of confusion in its
application, but we are not
making a battle out of it.”
The ban will impact attendees of the Milan-
Cortina Winter Olympics in 2026.
Smoking has been prohibited in all public
indoor spaces in Italy since 2005, and several
cities have added additional regulations,
though implementation is rare.
In Turin, it is forbidden to smoke in
front of children or pregnant women while
outside. In Rome, many restaurants allow
smoking at outdoor tables and all major
Italian airports have smoking rooms inside
the terminals. IAH
The ban is part of a clampdown
focused more on pollution than
health, city leaders said.
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