Changes to anti-smoking law come into force from August 1

From August 1 new anti-smoking regulations in Luxembourg will come into force which will see e-cigarettes banned from public spaces in the same way as conventional smoking and tighter restrictions on smoking around children.

Cigarettes will be prohibited in playgrounds or in a car when a child under the age of 12 is in the vehicle.

Using electronic cigarettes, known as vaping, will also be forbidden in all places where smoking is banned and selling cigarettes and e-cigarettes to anyone under 18 will be illegal under the regulations.

The aim of the changes, under the 13 June 2017 law, is to develop the anti-smoking law in place since 2006 in a bid to protect non-smokers' health and in particular children.

According to the health ministry, teenagers are first introduced to smoking at 13 or 14 years old and 70 per cent of smokers start before they turn 18.

Smoking in playgrounds

The ban on smoking in public spaces will also apply to playgrounds from August 1.

The aim is to protect children's health but also an effort to reduce the number of children who will start smoking later in life as a result of being less exposed to seeing adults smoke.

Smoking in cars

When a child under the age of 12 is travelling in a car, all passengers will be banned from smoking in the vehicle.

The health ministry claims passive smoking in a confined space increases the effects and opening windows or using air conditioning cannot sufficiently decrease the intake.

Vaping where smoking is banned

In areas where smoking cigarettes is prohibited, vaping electronic cigarettes will also be banned.

This was introduced to "protect people against the potential risks of e-cigarettes", which the ministry claims could be harmful due to toxic or carcinogenic ingredients such as propylene glycol, glycerine, and nicotine which can be found in the liquid.

"E-liquids release substances which are classed as toxic for consumers and people around them, although to less of an extent than conventional cigarettes," a statement by the health ministry read.

It also stated vaping imitates the act of smoking which could lead young people to turn to tobacco which would counteract years of effort to create a non-smoking society.

Selling tobacco and e-cigarettes

Scientific studies show that one of the reasons why some young people do not start smoking is because they are not old enough to legally buy cigarettes. The new regulation bans selling tobacco and e-cigarettes to anyone under 18 years old.

(Heledd Pritchard, heledd.pritchard@wort.lu, +352 49 93 459)