Canary Islands proposes to prohibit smoking on terraces, bus stops and sports spaces

The Government of the Canary Islands will propose to the Ministry of Health that the new Comprehensive Plan against Smoking prohibits smoking on the terraces of bars and restaurants, at bus stops and in outdoor sports spaces, and that restrictive measures be taken on the trade of vapers.

These are some of the allegations that the Canary Islands will bring next week to the Interterritorial Health Council, the forum where the different communities will discuss with the Ministry the new package of measures against smoking that includes the Comprehensive Plan.

According to sources from the Ministry of Health informed EFE, the Government of the Canary Islands generally supports the plan submitted to its consideration by the Ministry, although it makes some suggestions.

The first is financing: Esther Monzón's department believes "it is essential to have a detailed financial sheet that guarantees the viability of the proposed measures", detailing how resources will be distributed among the communities, since these will be primarily responsible for implementing and executing the plan.

Regarding smoke-free spaces, the Ministry of Health of the Canary Islands requests a more precise delimitation, which should be included in the new legislation in order to protect against involuntary smoking, while at the same time conveying to the general population the message of the fight against tobacco consumption.

"Among these smoke-free spaces, it is proposed to include the outdoor terraces of bars and restaurants, outdoor sports facilities, the canopies of bus stops and the spaces around the entrances of places where tobacco consumption is prohibited, for example, schools, health centers and hospitals," recommends the Canary Islands Government.

Regarding electronic cigarettes and vapers, it defends equating all tobacco products for tax purposes, as has already been done in the islands, and legislatively, including in the definition the derivatives of tobacco, in reference to electronic cigarettes, which currently do not have that categorization.

And it proposes that the sale of single-use vapers be prohibited, because they contain microplastics and non-biodegradable electronic components that seriously harm the environment.

Regarding legislative coverage, the Canary Islands considers that the plan against smoking must be regulated by a provision of national scope that guarantees its application uniformly throughout the country and suggests unifying all the regulatory provisions related to it in a new Law on Smoking.

And regarding the sale of refills for electronic devices capable of releasing nicotine, it recommends applying the same packaging, advertising and sales restrictions, even if they do not contain nicotine, "as they are considered a gateway for young people to tobacco consumption."

Another of the measures submitted to the consideration of the autonomous communities by the Ministry of Health is the possibility of imposing generic packaging on cigarettes, which eliminates brands, colors and emblems from the packs, something against which the industry association in the Canary Islands, Asinca, has already reacted, arguing that it would jeopardize some 4,500 jobs.

Here, the Government of the Canary Islands is not as forceful as in the other measures, but asks the Ministry to provide updated data on the experience in the countries where this measure has been implemented, such as the United Kingdom and Australia.