Tobacco.org

Time to ban smoking in outdoor public places too?  

Four years after smoking was banned from indoor public places, outdoor venues such as open air restaurants and bars, have become the natural smoking zones, and it may be time to consider whether these too should become smoke-free.

Joe Gerada, the chief executive officer of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, explained to maltastar.com that the European Commission's proposed new regulations to increase tax on tobacco is a move in the right direction, as studies show that higher prices of tobacco will lead to lower consumption. The Commission says that if the new legislation is introduced, smoking across the EU will decrease by 10% in the next five years.

The proposed regulations will see prices of cigarettes in Malta rise by at least 8.1% by 2014. Other countries will see a sharper hike in cigarette prices, as unlike Malta, their current tax rates are much lower than the newly proposed minimum rates.

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