Milan has introduced a total ban on smoking outdoors in the city - should Ireland follow suit?
In the Italian city, those caught lighting-up on crowded streets could be fined up to €240.
On Newstalk Breakfast, Tobacco Free Ireland Research Institute Director General Professor Luke Clancy said Ireland should “take note” from what Milan is doing.
“I think we were, as you know, leading in this kind of activity, but we're now a follower,” he said.
“Certainly, the change in smoking is very welcome and there's a lot less smoking going on, so it's a logical thing if you're thinking about having a smoke free country, which we have said we want for a long time.
Prof Clancy said he doesn’t think banning smoking outside is going too far.
“I think what that's based on is that when you're outdoors, generally, the smoke is diffused, so you're not getting a big dose of it,” he said.
“There are very recent studies showing people who never smoked that had known second-hand smoke exposure outdoors have some effects.
“So does it cause health problems? Yes. Is it a major cause of health disease? No.”
"Denormalization" of smoking
Prof Clancy said the outdoor smoking ban in Milan starts the “denormalization” of smoking.
“One thing we noticed after the 2004 [smoking indoors] ban is that people who smoke didn't find it that easy just to stop because there was a banner smoking inside, but young people didn't take it up,” he said.
“We found that there was a huge drop in smoking in teenagers and this has persisted - and I really do think that is was related to the fact that they weren't seeing as much smoking.”
Prof Clancy also thinks that a ban on outdoor smoking would be helpful to curbing pollution – with cigarette butts, matches, boxes and smoking paraphernalia becoming a “big part” of litter in Irish cities.
Something to consider
He said that taking on some points of the Milan outdoor smoking ban would be good for Ireland but that we don’t have such extreme pollution issues as Milan.
“Milan has other problems as well - their air pollution is worse than ours, so they're looking at it just in simple terms of air pollution as well,” Prof Clancy said.
“But, I would think that any country that wants to become smoke free, we should consider it.
“Even if you don't have a general ban on [smoking while] walking down the street, the EU has now tried to get people and countries to look at their exposure and say, should you really have smoking in swimming pools, in sports stadia, in these confined spaces where you can designate them.”
Prof Clancy said starting a move towards a smoke-free society at sporting events is something to consider.
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A man smoking a cigarette. Image: Jes2ufoto / Alamy Stock Photo
