The law on tobacco control comes into force

• Abstract
• Characteristics of this policy
• Purpose and process analysis
• Expected outcome
• References

Abstract

The Slovenian Parliament adopted the new law on tobacco control in July 2007, amending the old one. The main changes deal with the introduction of a total ban on smoking in public closed spaces and a ban on sales of tobacco products to minors (also preventing minors being employed in sale of tobacco products). The law came into force in August, after a demand for emergency halt to its implementation was declined by the Constitutional court.

Neue Entwicklungen

The law and its limitations were prepared in 2006 and were exposed to a lot of pressure even in the legislative process. The approach was inspired by the examples in those countries which decided for a total ban on smoking in closed spaces (e.g. Italy, Ireland, Norway), with the exception of a small concession - granting small smoking spaces to be possible under clearly defined by-law conditions. The original purpose of the law was still preserved and that was to prevent unnecessary and harmful exposure to tobacco smoke in all working environments for employees in different sectors, all dealing with customers who were previously allowed to smoke. Along the same lines, all persons using the premises should also be protected from involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke.

Innovationsgrad	traditionell		innovativ
Kontroversität	unumstritten		kontrovers
Strukturelle Wirkung	marginal		fundamental
Medienpräsenz	sehr gering		sehr hoch
Übertragbarkeit	sehr systemabhängig		systemneutral
current    previous

Although brought to the agenda as a controversial issue, in reality the law on tobacco control proved to have a large consensus among the general population (over 80% in support of the law in total, 55% among smokers) and also all the political parties supported it in the preparation and adoption processes. As many as 48% of the participants in a web poll (2) replied they now like going out to bars and restaurants better because there is no cigarette smoke there any more. Even if Slovenia does have a rather low smoking prevalence in the adult population (22.8%) (3), there are some indications that additional measures are needed. The rate of decline of lung cancer in males is not as steep as in some other countries, such as the UK or Italy; on the other hand, lung cancer in women is rising very rapidly. (4)

Purpose and process analysis

Current Process Stages

	Idee	Pilotprojekt	Strategiepapier	Gesetzgebung	Umsetzung	Evaluation	Veränderung/Richtungswechsel
Implemented in this survey?

Initiators of idea/main actors

• Regierung

Stakeholder positions

The new law on tobacco control was adopted through the support of all political parties, but one - the Slovenian National Party. The latter moved to propose a halt on the implementation of the law by claiming that the damages to small bars and restaurants would be unproportional compared to the potential benefits of the law. The party's MPs occasionally displayed their dissatisfaction with the law by smoking in closed public places.

Most of the associations in the catering industry supported the new law, especially those who serve food. On the other hand, small bars, primarily serving only drinks, strongly opposed the law, saying that the implementation would have detrimental consequences to their businesses. Once their demand for a halt to the law in front of the Constitutional law was rejected, they decided for public displays of discontent. In spite of their prior announcements that they would encourage their customers to smoke on their premises, they eventually decided to avoid because of the sanctions prescribed by law.

Actors and positions

Regierung
Small bars and restaurants	sehr unterstützend		stark dagegen
Health care providers	sehr unterstützend		stark dagegen
Public health	sehr unterstützend		stark dagegen
current    previous

Actors and influence

Regierung
Small bars and restaurants	sehr groß		kein
Health care providers	sehr groß		kein
Public health	sehr groß		kein
current    previous

Positions and Influences at a glance

Adoption and implementation

The Ministry of Health decided for a firm stance on the implementation of the law. Even though there were announcements about not compliance with the law, only few sanctions were actually passed. That was not a consequence of leniency but rather of compliance with the law's regulations.

Still, small bar owners continue with their public actions to press for the withdrawal of the most severe limitation - that is for the total ban on tobacco smoking indoors would be dropped and smoking only bars would be permitted. The MoH already expressed their opposition to such a change.

Monitoring and evaluation

Overall, the support for the new law on tobacco control continues, both among smokers and non-smokers. Apart from the community of small bar owners, all the others in the catering industry are satisfied with the changes, a minority still hoping for some reduction in the severity of the limitations imposed.

Expected outcome

The legislators intended to have multiple public health effects. Apart from the ban on smoking in closed public places, the reduction in the consumption of alcohol beverages that frequently accompanied smoking is also expected to reduce. This is probably the main source of concern for the small bar owners who can anticipate these effects, but fail to address them in shifting to offering also food or other beverages.

Impact of this policy

Qualität	kaum Einfluss		starker Einfluss
Gerechtigkeit	System weniger gerecht		System gerechter
Kosteneffizienz	sehr gering		sehr hoch
current    previous

It is so far too soon to evaluate on the impact of the smoking ban, but the immediate effects and the predominantly accepting atmosphere are encouraging.

References

Sources of Information

1. Law on the limitations to the use of tobacco products. Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia 93/2007.

2. najdi.si website polls on smoking (www.najdi.si)

3. Telephone poll on prevalence of smoking among adults in Slovenia, May 2006. Institute of Public Health of the Republic of Slovenia.

4. Health for All database. World Health Organisation, European Office, Copenhagen, July 2007.

 

Reform formerly reported in

New law on tobacco control Process Stages: Gesetzgebung

Author/s and/or contributors to this survey

Tit Albreht

Empfohlene Zitierweise für diesen Online-Artikel:

Tit Albreht. "The law on tobacco control comes into force". Health Policy Monitor, October 2007. Available at http://www.hpm.org/survey/si/a10/4