The Council of Ministers today approved several amendments to the tobacco law, equating electronic cigarettes with regular tobacco and creating restrictions on sale and consumption, with the Minister of Health underlining that it is necessary to "go further".
The amendments include extending the ban on smoking outdoors within the perimeter of places accessible to the general public or for collective use, such as hospitals and other health establishments, schools and colleges, sports venues and stations.
Added to this is the impossibility of creating new spaces reserved for smokers in premises where smoking is already prohibited in closed areas.
In addition, the proposal, which will be voted on in the Assembly of the Republic, also provides for the redefinition of the places where tobacco sales and the installation of vending machines are allowed. The objective is that tobacco will only be sold in tobacconists or similar and at airports.
«The Government approved a bill in the Council of Ministers that takes firm steps to protect people from exposure to tobacco. Heated tobacco packages will now be treated as normal tobacco and the sale of flavorings in heated tobacco will be prohibited», said Manuel Pizarro, clarifying that these measures take effect from 23 October.
At the press conference held after the Council of Ministers, the official highlighted the need for legal transposition of a European directive on this matter and the drive to "reduce consumption stimuli" and help the Portuguese to "overcome addiction" to tobacco.
«We have to go further in relation to this very serious public health problem», he stressed.
Comments