December 22, 2002 ROME (AP) -- Smoking will get a little harder in Italy, where cigarettes are as common an accessory as a Vespa motorbike or a Fendi handbag.
The Senate passed a bill Saturday banning smoking in most public places. The law takes effect in a year.
The bill, already passed this month by the lower Chamber of Deputies, requires bar and restaurant owners to create separate smoking areas if they want to allow smoking.
Owners failing to enforce the law face up to $2,000 in fines. Individuals who light up in no-smoking areas face fines of $25-$250 ? although the amount can double if they smoke near a pregnant woman or child under 12.
Smoking currently is banned in some restaurants, offices and public places, but Italians frequently light up in no-smoking areas.
About 12 million Italians ? or 20 percent of the population ? smoke, and Health Minister Girolamo Sirchia has campaigned to get them to quit.
Earlier this year, he recommended forming a "Vigilance Committee" to keep smoking from being glamorized on television.
Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
