History of the Italian smoking ban
The architect of the Italian smoking ban was health minister Girolamo Sirchia and despite being against the proposals of total smoking bans prior to being elected he quickly fell into line with the World Health Organisations blueprint for the eradication of tobacco. Sirchia was convicted of fraud in 2008 after being found guilty of taking money from interested parties such as the pharmaceutical industry; he escaped a three year jail sentence due to an Italian law that forbids people over the age of 70 being sent to prison.
Introduction of legislation was problematic and in the run up to the ban Italian newspapers ran headline stories of the first ever person anywhere in the world to have been shown to have died from passive smoke. The woman, Monica Crema, was asthmatic and it was disclosed after the introduction of the ban that she actually died of a food allergy, the actual cause of her death never made the front of the newspapers.
Effects of the ban
After the first year of the legislation the now familiar reports in drops of heart attacks was announced in a study that claimed an 8% -11% decline and despite the study being thoroughly debunked in peer review it gained widespread publicity. The main criticisms of the study were;
- The data from the study also showed that there was a similar decline in heart attacks in the year prior to the smoking ban calling into question the researchers claims that the ban was somehow responsible.
- Many heart specialists pointed out that coronary heart disease takes decades to develop so it would simply not be possible to see such marked effects in just 12 months.
- The study didn't use a control group with which to compare the results and were thus unable to discount any other causes.
Tobacco consumption in Italy was adversely affected after the ban following similar trends around the world; in the 2 year period prior to the ban (2003, 2004) there was a natural 5000 ton decrease in tobacco usage, in the two year period after the ban (2005, 2006) there was an 1 000 ton increase representing a 12.5 billion euro windfall for the Italian treasury in taxes from the increased sales. There have also been many reports of an explosion in smuggled tobacco in Southern Italy arriving from places such as Albania, Greece, Morocco and Malta.
Economic impacts on the hospitality industry were on par with other smoking ban countries. Within the first year bingo halls were reporting a 38% drop in trade while bars were reporting an average drop of 20% - 25%.
Compliance with the legislation
There has been a tight observance of the ban in North Eastern areas of the country, mixed observance in the North West and the ban is almost entirely ignored in the South. In all areas loopholes allow smoking to continue; according to Italian law once the doors of a business are locked it is deemed that the public no longer has access and it is therefore a private place no longer subject to the ban.
The Italian smoking legislation took a step backwards on 1st August 2005 after a judge ruled that business owners could not be held responsible for failing to enforce the law. This resulted in many bars in Italy choosing to ignore the law altogether thus raising questions about the pre ban claims that everyone wanted the new legislation.