Smoking will be banned in virtually all public places in Slovenia, and the sale of tobacco products to adolescents under 18 banned, under legislation adopted Friday by parliament.
The new measures, which take effect in August, amend for a third time Slovenia's original anti-smoking law that was adopted in 1996.Smoking will be banned in all public places, except in smoking rooms that can be installed in hotels, restaurants, psychiatric hospitals or prisons, the new legislation declares.
Ventilated cabins can also be installed in workplaces and some public institutions, exclusively for smokers, with eating and drinking forbidden inside them.
Currently, smoking in Slovenia is allowed in specially marked public areas -- but with no clear separation between smoking and non-smoking areas.
The new law, adopted by a vote of 45-13 in the 90-seat parliament, also set 18 as the minimum legal age for buying cigarettes and other tobacco products, up from the current 15 years.
Merchants will also be able to ask for ID to check the age of young tobacco buyers.
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SRM
