Since January 1, 2025, smoking on the street, on the terrace or even the shelters of this big city can lead to a salty fine. Inhabitants and visitors will have to adapt to strict rules to protect public health and air quality.
Goodbye cigarette breaks in town. A large agglomeration has decided to tighten the screw in the face of pollution and tobacco’s nuisance. This measure, adopted since the start of the year, is accompanied by tickets up to 240 euros. A decision that aims to reduce the emissions of fine particles and improve the health of the inhabitants.
The playgrounds, bus stops, parks, sports facilities, and even sidewalks are concerned. The rule also extends to the terraces of bars and restaurants, formerly sanctuaries for smokers. From now on, those who wish to grill a cigarette must respect a distance of at least ten meters with the other people. A constraint that makes respect for the law particularly complex in a city where the streets are often crowded. This drastic ban only concerns traditional tobacco products. Electronic cigarettes escape the rule. Local authorities justified this exception by advancing that the e-cigarettes did not emit fine particles, which would make them less harmful to air quality.
According to local studies, traditional tobacco is responsible for around 7% of fine particles emissions in this city. A significant proportion, especially in a context where air quality is one of the worst in the country. A local elected representative, herself a smoker, took the lead to defend this measure. She says she wants to show an example by reducing her own tobacco consumption. “This smoking ban is a concrete measure that everyone can benefit-both in terms of personal health and general well-being”she explained.
Failure to comply with these rules can be expensive: a fine of 240 euros is planned for offenders. This sum aims to dissuade smokers from defying the prohibition and in part financed awareness campaigns on the effects of tobacco and pollution. The city in question is none other than Milan, the first big Italian city to establish such a strict ban.
Faced with atmospheric pollution problems for years, the capital of Lombardy strives to show an example. By adopting these rules, she hopes to encourage other major European cities to follow her model. Elsewhere, cigarettes are already chased from cities such as in New York, the United States, where smoking in pedestrian areas is for example, such as Times Square.
