Smoking in outdoor bars and at bus stops could soon be banned in Italy, according to a draft law published by La Stampa, reports Wanted in Rome.
The proposed crackdown on smoking by the health ministry would include e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products as well as regular cigarettes. In addition to outdoor bars, the ban would also be extended to parks when pregnant women and children are present, La Stampa reported.
After Health Minister Orazio Schillaci promised in January to crack down on outdoor smoking and vaping, the proposal was met with criticism from several members of the right-wing government.
Italy’s deputy prime minister and Lega leader Matteo Salvini wrote on Twitter, “E-cigarettes are helping so many people to give up regular cigarettes,” adding: “As an ex-smoker who quit four years ago, the ban on smoking them outdoors seems over the top.”
Culture undersecretary Vittorio Sgarbi, known for his outspoken views, told the Adnkronos news agency that the proposed ban was reminiscent of “an authoritarian and dictatorial communist regime”.
In Italy, smoking has been banned in public places such as bars, restaurants, nightclubs and offices since 2005.