Milan: Smoking outside since 1 January

Anyone who smoked, smoked in as soon as the year changes will be banned from outside. Milan is the first city in Italy to have decided to ban smoking outdoors since January 1st, i.e. a few of them now. CORVERSE According to the “air quality order”, adopted in 2020 by Milan, “since 1 January 2025, the smoking ban extends to all public spaces, among them on the streets”. A ban that does not please Morgan Isaac, a smoker, who spoke on AFPTV: “The new law is excessive,” said 46-year-old plumber. “I agree not to smoke inside or near an elderly or a child, but to ban smoking outside somehow limits individual freedom, in my opinion it is too much,” he explained. CORVERSE On the contrary, Stelena Maria Rita Lombardo, a 56-year-old Milanese who works at a school, said she ” fully agrees” with the new measure. She does not smoke and considers that “smoking creates very much pollution, at a time when we suffer a lot from climate change.” Only one exception is provided: “the isolated areas where it is possible to keep a distance of at least 10 metres from other people”, which in a city as densely populated as Milan is considered impossible, except perhaps at night. The measure does not concern electronic cigarettes. In the event of non-compliance with the ban, the offender will face a fine ranging from EUR 40 to EUR 240. In the capital city of Lombardia, smoking was already banned since 2021 in public areas with green, unless it was possible to maintain a safety distance of 10 meters, in playgrounds, bus stops and taxi stations, as in all sports facilities. The city of Milan, surrounded by a dense industrial fabric and often records high rates of pollution of fine suspended particles and oxides of nitrogen, is particularly sensitive to the battle against air pollution, even in view of the 2026 Winter Olympics. Italy has been thrown into the fight against smoking since 1975 with a limited ban especially on public transport. In 1995, the ban was extended to the public sector and in 2005 to all closed public spaces. Nearly one Italian in five smokes, according to data from the Institute of Statistics in Italy (Isstat) for 2023 and 93,000 deaths are attributed annually to smoking, according to the Health Ministry. By comparison, almost three French out of 10 smoke, compared to 8% in Sweden and 37% in Bulgaria.