I Want a Smoking Ban Too!
There’s a new anti smoking law in Italy that recently went into effect.
The law,
which bans smoking in indoor spaces unless they have a separate area
with continuous floor-to-ceiling walls and a ventilation system, is one
of the toughest in Europe.Smokers ignoring the ban face fines of up to $363, while owners of premises risk penalties as high as $2,904.
Sounds like they’re taking it seriously.
I especially appreciate the continuous floor-to-ceiling walls
bit. It has gone past silly and into absurd to see that the difference
between the smoking area and the non-smoking area at most places is an
arbitrary imaginary line inside the building.
I never quite figured how
the smoke is supposed to know that it’s not allowed to cross a one
meter distance between a smoker and me, just because we’re in those two
different areas. Apparently the smoke usually isn’t able to figure it
out either, and stumbles into the non-smoking areas quite freely.
Complaining against the smokers has no effect, since they’re in the
allowed area. Complaining about the smoke also has little effect, maybe
just because it’s a smoking-free area and not smoke-free area, though
possibly also because smoke isn’t a legal entity and cannot be sued.
Hmm…
It also appears that they not only have a law, but are actually paying attention to it and trying to enforce it:
Minutes
after the law went into effect after midnight, a young man was fined
for smoking in a bar in Naples, TV stations showed. The man’s plea that
a cigarette was only normal after a coffee won him no reprieve, and he
was fined the minimum penalty of $36.
Hopefully
it’s indicative, and not just police playing with a shiny new toy before they’ll get bored. Even more hopefully,
maybe more countries will pay attention and decide to make such a law of
their own.
Maybe even around here, sometime… Hey, one can hope…
January 11th, 2005 at 17:36 EET | Categories: Legal |
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