[HN Gopher] Milan prohibits all outdoor smoking as ban takes effect
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       Milan prohibits all outdoor smoking as ban takes effect
        
       Author : austinallegro
       Score  : 31 points
       Date   : 2025-01-01 15:34 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.rte.ie)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.rte.ie)
        
       | jwagenet wrote:
       | Impressive, if just to reduce pollution from cigarette butts.
       | 
       | And even more impressive if it is executed: > In November, a
       | proposal in Britain to phase out smoking by young people passed
       | its first parliamentary hurdle [...]
       | 
       | > The bill would prevent anyone born after 1 January 2009 from
       | legally smoking by gradually raising the age at which tobacco can
       | be bought.
        
         | 486sx33 wrote:
         | What an awful proposition!
        
           | pjerem wrote:
           | Why? The idea is to ban smoking for people who never smoke
           | while still allow already addicted people to smoke. So no
           | prohibition (because there is still a legal market anyway),
           | nobody have to change any habits.
           | 
           | And I'd add that contrary to a lot of other drugs (including
           | alcohol), cigarette is too old school and not cool enough
           | anymore for youngsters to brave the law.
           | 
           | It's pretty clever, no ?
        
             | berdario wrote:
             | Seems neat indeed... But
             | 
             | > nobody have to change any habits.
             | 
             | That could still be confusing though for tourists which are
             | used to smoke at home
             | 
             | OTOH laws regarding which substances are ok to
             | consume/purchase differ by country anyhow. I mean, tourists
             | used to purchasing weed or alcohol already have to be
             | mindful that it is not necessarily legal to purchase in
             | countries in which they might travel to.
        
             | diggan wrote:
             | > The idea is to ban smoking for people who never smoke
             | while still allow already addicted people to smoke
             | 
             | The idea seems to be about banning smoking based on age,
             | not if they ever tried to smoke or not, which may seem like
             | a minor distinction, but it's a vital one. I bet you most
             | of the people who are addicted to smoking started smoking
             | before the age limit (if there was one), not afterwards.
             | 
             | It seems to me like smoking was decreasing by itself
             | already (probably because of vaping if anything), and
             | making it more illegal could counter that decrease.
        
         | jerlam wrote:
         | New Zealand was the first country to enact that type of
         | absolute-date smoking ban a few years ago, but was recently
         | repealed.
         | 
         | Previous discussion:
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38443957
        
       | htk wrote:
       | Last time I went to Milan, I remember that when I was in an empty
       | alley with my wife I noticed something and my wife did as well,
       | it was the only moment in the city we weren't smelling cigarette
       | smoke. The city is beautiful and alive, but the pervasive smoking
       | everywhere diminished my interest in ever going back.
        
       | instagib wrote:
       | Just for cigarettes as e-cigarettes get a pass and if you can
       | find a place that is 10m away from people. Smokers will find a
       | way.
       | 
       | "The ban - which comes ahead of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter
       | Olympics - does not apply to e-cigarettes.
       | 
       | Situated in the middle of the industrial Po Valley and filled
       | with road traffic, Milan is one of Europe's most polluted cities
       | in terms of air."
        
         | dzhiurgis wrote:
         | As they should - smoke lingers order magnitudes further than
         | actual nicotine
        
       | potato3732842 wrote:
       | So how's this work for people who live in non-smoking apartments?
       | Or is that not a thing in Milan?
        
       | synecdoche wrote:
       | Cigarette smoke is one of the most disgusting and at the same
       | time lasting odours. I think smokers are not aware of this. I can
       | smell a smoker at 50 meters distance on the street.
        
         | bdangubic wrote:
         | one person's odour is another person's aroma :) /s
        
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       (page generated 2025-01-01 23:02 UTC)