Slovenia doubles down on smoke flavourings, smoke-only lounges

10 months ago 40

The Slovenian government has toughened its anti-smoking legislation with a ban on smoking rooms and most flavourings in all heated tobacco products and electronic cigarettes to prevent addiction among children and reduce related health costs.

Flavourings in all heated tobacco products and electronic cigarettes – except tobacco for the former and tobacco and mint for the latter – as well as smoking in enclosed public places and workplaces, are now banned in Slovenia.

“There is mounting research showing that among adolescents who otherwise do not smoke, the use of electronic cigarettes raises the likelihood of them starting to smoke regular cigarettes by up to four times,” said Health Minister Valentina Prevolnik Rupel on Thursday.

The variety of flavours that come with electronic cigarettes is exactly why teenagers start using them, as it makes smoking more pleasant, she added.

While smoking in public places and workplaces except in special smoking rooms such as those found in bars and airports was banned in 2007,

The government has now decided on a full ban, with the minister saying that “despite ventilation, filtration and other technical measures, smoking rooms have proven to be ineffective against exposure to tobacco smoke”.

Concerned that flavoured smoking products could still be sold on the black market, the government also intends to introduce new rules prohibiting individuals from selling or importing tobacco products in bulk.

While a ban on selling these products online has existed since 2017, the proposed changes prohibit individuals from importing them from third countries.

Every year, 3,100 people die from smoking in Slovenia, Health Ministry data shows.

Meanwhile, nine in ten of the 1,563 new cases of lung cancer are thought to be linked to smoking.

(Gregor Zamuda | sta.si)