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Smoking in Italy has been banned in public places including bars, restaurants, discotheques and offices since 2005.^[1] A majority of Italians supported the ban at the time it was first implemented,^[1] but there was a lack of support from smokers and some bar owners.^[2] 5% of bar and restaurant owners immediately introduced separate smoking rooms.^[2]

History

Christopher Columbus was the first European to discover tobacco. He described how indigenous people in Cuba used tobacco by lighting dried herbs wrapped in a leaf and inhaling the smoke.^[3] According to ItalianSmokes.com, in 1561, Bishop Prospero Santacroce while in Portugal discovered the healing properties of a tobacco type called Nicotiana Rustica. He then brought the seeds back to Italy. Around 1574, Niccolo Tornabuoni, who served as the Florentine ambassador to Paris, introduced the seeds of another tobacco variety known as Nicotiana Tabacum to Tuscany. By the end of the 16th century, various new strains were derived and were cultivated in Tuscany, Lombardy, Piedmont, Veneto, Marche, Umbria, Campania, Sardinia, and Sicily. For more than 300 years, the growth of tobacco in Italy was influenced by a complex taxes and regulations imposed by the different states before their unification into the modern nation in 1859. In 1861 the government created the national monopoly Monopolio dello Stato to purchase all tobacco leaves and manufacture and sell tobacco products,^[4] After 1818 Kentucky tobacco was farmed and fermented in Tuscany and Umbria, and is responsible for the commercial success of the Toscano cigar.^[5]

After 1919, cigarettes became dominant among men, Women slowly adopted smoking--fewer than 10% in 1965.^[6] Philip Morris advertised heavily in Italy and across Western Europe, especially through sponsorship of Formula I auto racing. By 1975 its Marlboro brand held a fourth of Italy’s cigarette market.^[7]

Since 1975

Early anti-smoking legislation was introduced in Italy, when on 11 November 1975 law no. 584 was passed, prohibiting smoking on public transport and in some public places such as hospitals, cinemas, theaters, universities, museums, and libraries.^[8]^[9] In 1986, Health Minister Costante Degan unsuccessfully tried to implement a smoking ban in bars and restaurants, but the push would be neglected amid other concerns.^[8]

After almost two decades, a comprehensive ban of smoking in all public places was finally introduced by Health Minister Girolamo Sirchia on 16 January 2003, making Italy the 4th European country to introduce a smoking ban in all public places.^[10] Heart attacks in Italian adults dropped significantly following the implementation of the smoking ban.^[11] The decline in heart attacks was attributed to less passive smoking.^[12] Health Minister Girolamo Sirchia said that smoking was the leading preventable cause of death in Italy.^[2] The ban caused an 8% decrease in cigarette consumption.^[13] However, rates of law enforcement are not uniform in the country; higher in Northern Italy, Tuscany and Sardinia, much lower in Southern Italy, especially in Calabria (70%) and Campania (76%).^[14]

Prevalence

The smoking rate in Italy between 2000 and 2020 is about 23.7%. Furthermore, data shows a general downward trend in smoking rate between 2000 and 2016. In 2005 when smoking was banned in public places the rate was about 25.6% and fell to the current level of about 23.7%.^[15]

Zeno's Conscience

Zeno's Conscience is a 1923 novel by Italian writer Italo Svevo; the English translation is entitled Confessions of Zeno. The main character is Zeno Cosini, and the book is the fictional character's memoirs that he keeps because his fictional psychiatrist recommended it. Zeno first writes about his cigarette addiction and cites the first times he smoked. In his first few paragraphs, he remembers his life as a child. One of his friends bought cigarettes for his brother and him. Soon, he steals money from his father to buy tobacco, but finally decides not to do this out of shame. Eventually, he starts to smoke his father's half-smoked cigars instead.

The problem with his "last cigarette" starts when he is twenty. He contracts a fever and his doctor tells him that to heal he must abstain from smoking. He decides smoking is bad for him and smokes his "last cigarette" so he can quit. However, this is not his last and he soon becomes plagued with "last cigarettes." He attempts to quit on days of important events in his life and soon obsessively attempts to quit on the basis of the harmony in the numbers of dates. Each time, the cigarette fails to truly be the last. He goes to doctors and asks friends to help him give up the habit, but to no avail. He even commits himself into a clinic, but escapes. The whole theme, while objectively serious, is often treated in a humorous way.