The European Commission is likely to recommend in the near future that all EU countries ban smoking in outdoor cafés, bus stops and outside entrances. According to EuroNews, the bans will also cover smokeless nicotine products such as e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn tobacco, as well as vejp products without nicotine.
The information on the extended smoking ban comes via leaked documents to EuroNews magazine. According to the newspaper, the upcoming proposal is based on the perception that EU countries' implementation of previous smoking bans does not go far enough.
"The rules for smoke-free environments vary greatly, and in the case of outdoor environments, the coverage is very low," the Commission says in its proposal, according to EuroNews.
"Willful smoker"
The leaked data worries the debater and vejp activist Michael Landl, CEO of the World Vapers Alliance organisation.
"The Commission is making a big mistake by confusing vejping with smoking. This sends an unclear message to millions of smokers who use e-cigarettes to stay smoke-free. Equating vejping with smoking is tantamount to misleading millions into believing that vejping is equally harmful, when in reality it is 95 per cent less harmful." writes Michael Landl in Brussels Report magazine.
Already banned in Sweden
However, the upcoming proposal will not affect Sweden, The current smoking ban, which will apply from 2019, already covers outdoor restaurants, bus stops and shop entrances. The same smoking ban also applies to the use of e-cigarettes. Ahead of the decision in Parliament The Social Democrats that the purpose of including e-cigarettes in the ban was to 'de-normalise' smoking. The then Social Democratic government was supported by the Left Party and the Green Party.
Marginal risks of passive vejpning
According to a recently published study On the risks of passive smoking compared to vejp smoking, the vapour from e-cigarettes poses significantly less risk, both in terms of exposure to nicotine and other potentially harmful substances.
