• March 28, 2024

Public vaping banned

 Public vaping banned

As part of a raft of measures introduced in Luxembourg on August 1, electronic cigarettes cannot be vaped in enclosed public places, with the exception of smoking rooms, according to a story on the English-language website, Delano.

Other measures include a ban on the sale of cigarettes to those under 18 years of age, and a ban on smoking near children’s playgrounds and in private vehicles in which a child aged under 12 is present.

The changes form part of the law of June 13, 2017, which enshrines into law the EU’s revised Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), 2014/40, and goes beyond the provisions of the directive.

‘Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death,’ said Luxembourg’s health ministry in a press note. ‘At least one in two smokers will die prematurely from a tobacco-related disease, mainly cardiovascular disease, cancer and tumors, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).’

The measures are said to be aimed at preventing the exposure of young people and non-smokers to the ‘dangerous effects of second-hand smoke’, and at preventing smoking from being ‘normalized for young people’.

A survey by the market research company TNS ILRES on behalf of Luxembourg’s Cancer Foundation found that the average age at which a person started smoking in Luxembourg was 13-14, and that seven in 10 smokers took up the habit before turning 18.

In Luxembourg, one in four smokers is aged 18-24.