Smoking, indoor ban also for e-cigs and heated tobacco: the appeal to the Government

As the promoters reiterate, "it is essential to increase protection also for highly frequented open and semi-open spaces: including school and health areas, parks, play areas, sports facilities, beaches and dehors". It is also necessary to "strengthen and update the advertising and marketing bans already in force, extending them to all categories of new smoking and nicotine products". The current regulations "do not take into account the evolution of the offer of smoking products and the evolution of the means of communication, and it is therefore necessary to fill the regulatory gaps to prohibit any form of commercial promotion and direct or indirect sponsorship, including through digital channels, social media, influencers, events and points of sale. To do this, greater controls and more effective sanctions are needed", underline the associations promoting the initiative. The Manifesto will be sent to the Senate Health Committee.

As the organizations reiterate, in Italy today there is still a widespread prevalence of smoking among adolescents: between 14 and 17 years old, as many as 37% smoke more or less regularly. Of these, 22% use heated tobacco and 30% use electronic cigarettes. Smoking, in all its forms, warn the promoters of the Manifesto, is "extremely dangerous: in Italy alone, over 93 thousand deaths per year are estimated to be caused by smoking, of which 35 thousand due to lung cancer, a disease which in 9 out of ten cases is linked to tobacco consumption". What then emerges is "exposure to passive smoking which constitutes a very serious health risk throughout the world where it causes 1.6 million deaths every year".

In the document the associations also ask for "greater attention to more or less explicit forms of advertising towards new generation cigarettes". The industry, it is underlined, "has developed increasingly sophisticated strategies to recruit new generations of consumers through the use of natural or synthetic nicotine, attractive flavors and designs. Finally, great attention must also be paid to sales to minors whose prohibitions are not always respected". According to the data, cited by the signatories, almost 40% of smokers aged between 14 and 17 personally purchase traditional cigarettes, e-cigs and heated tobacco products. "It is therefore necessary to strengthen control measures on both physical and online sales networks", conclude Aiom, Airc and Fondazione Veronesi. "We urge Parliament to discuss our popular initiative bill to increase the cost of all smoking and nicotine inhalation products by 5 euros", they say. "We have collected and delivered over 52 thousand signatures and we are awaiting the debate in the Senate. In the meantime, we ask the institutions for urgent national legislative intervention because people's health must not be put at risk by exposure to products used by third parties", conclude the organizations.