Italy Turns on Its Smokers With New Year Resolution

The smoke-filled bar may soon be a thing of the past in Italy.

The country's 15 million smokers are enjoying their last puffs of freedom before stringent new rules segregate fumatori in public places and limit the availability of cigarettes in vending machines.

From today more than 200,000 bars and restaurants will be subject to a new rule that requires designated smoking areas to be sealed off from the rest of the premises and equipped with powerful ventilators. Owners have 12 months to comply, or face heavy fines and temporary closure.

A second rule starting on New Year's Day blocks vending machines from operating between 9am and 7pm. In the future the machines will only accept purchases from customers with an electronic identity card proving they are not under age.

After seatbelts in cars and helmets for motorcyclists, the anti-smoking measures are the latest government strictures aimed at protecting Italians from themselves. Italians tend to be restive about respecting rules and it remains to be seen how the attack on fumatori will be received in the land where one in four people smoke, where smoking is still chic, and where tobacco production is a major industry.

The initiative has been promoted by the health minister, Girolamo Sirchia. "The decree safeguarding the health of non-smokers is an act of civility," he said.

Bar and restaurant owners are not obliged to provide smoking areas: they can continue operating but with a blanket ban on smoking.

The law gives precise dispositions on the ventilation required in smoking areas and the number of smokers allowed to occupy the space.