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The Ministry of Health in Spain continues to keep its foot on the accelerator with the aim of having the legal reforms contained in the anti-smoking plan agreed with the regions approved or at least well advanced before the end of the year.
In April the department already took the first step to approve the royal decree that will implement generic labelling and ban flavourings and flavourings in cigarettes and vapes, and today it did the same but with a draft bill that will extend smoke-free public spaces and restrict the sale and consumption of all types of electronic cigarettes among young people as well as the advertising of these new tobacco-related products,. All Spanish scientific societies point to these as the current gateway for minors to this addiction that kills some 60,000 people in Spain every year.
The ministry headed by Mónica García today opened for prior consultation, the first obligatory procedure, the draft bill that will reform for the first time in more than a decade the law regulating the sale, supply, consumption and advertising of tobacco. The draft, which generically describes the content and objectives to be included in the reform, as well as the reasons for the urgency of tackling it, may receive proposals and allegations from the public, associations and NGOs until 15 August, when the drafting of the text to be sent for approval to the national government will begin.
With this step, the main actions and reforms envisaged in the government plan would already be in the preparation phase, as the other major measure, a significant increase in taxes and prices of tobacco and related products, was put on hold in April due to the veto of the Ministry of Finance, which, however, does not rule out the possibility of agreeing it at some point and without prior notice.
The document states that the law will agree measures to meet the objective of reducing unwanted exposure of the public to tobacco smoke, toxins and other related products, such as e-cigarettes and vapes, in public places. In particular it talks about "community and social settings". It does not yet specify any specific areas where smoking will be banned or limited, but the ministry's focus has been on hospitality terraces, bus and tram shelters and other community places such as beaches.
This is a measure supported by two out of three people and by the entire medical profession, which points out that there are thousands of non-smoking people in Spain who develop cancers or other serious pathologies as a result of passive smoking, an involuntary intoxication that kills 1.3 million of the planet's inhabitants every year. These people indicate that the places where they most regularly inhale these noxious fumes and vapours are bar and restaurant terraces and leisure areas, followed by their own homes and the surroundings of schools and workplaces.
The second block of reforms the Health ministry has announced is the one that aims to extend legal restrictions on tobacco to electronic cigarettes and, at least in some aspects, to vapers. Firstly, the future law will bring tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship bans and restrictions into line with the new forms of smoking. It is expected that they will be practically equalised and that especially the promotion of these products by 'influencers' or festivals and other youth-oriented events, which until now act without restrictions, will be limited.
Secondly, it also envisages bringing the long-standing restrictions on the sale and use of tobacco to the same level as electronic cigarettes, whether or not they contain nicotine, and herbal smoking products of all kinds.
The ministry's draft justifies the need for legal reforms because the restrictions that were put in place almost 15 years ago are already showing signs of exhaustion (tobacco consumption has stopped falling in Spain) and because of the increased exposure of citizens, especially young people, to new forms of consumption.
The department believes that the current regulations do not take into account the increased supply and advertising exposure of new tobacco-related products and that, moreover, the current law does not even place restrictions on nicotine-free e-cigarettes and herbal smoking products.
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