According to ERR News, the Estonian government plans to expand smoke-free areas, aiming to limit smoking in public places such as beaches and parks. This policy is intended to equally restrict all tobacco and nicotine products.
Last week, the Estonian government approved its position on European tobacco policy. This includes expanding smoke-free areas on terraces, in parks, on beaches, and in other crowded leisure areas. For example, designated smoking areas with signs and trash bins have been set up on beaches in Latvia and Lithuania.
Aive Telling, Head of Environmental Health and Chemical Safety at the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs, explained the plan.
Today, we are talking about restrictions that still allow individuals to smoke, but in a way that does not harm the health of those around them. This is the most important point in ensuring a smoke-free environment. We must consider others, and this is also key in changing societal attitudes to ensure our actions do not harm others.
Director of the Tartu Health Department, Piret Väljaots, emphasized concerns about compliance with these restrictions.
For example, today, drinking behavior on the beach is being supervised, and people will be reminded that drinking on the beach is not allowed. Similarly, tobacco use may also be monitored during the beach season. However, for public places such as parks, the issue becomes more complicated because these places do not have ongoing legal supervision.
Currently, the Department of Social Affairs does not have a detailed implementation plan yet.
Wei Ling said,
The situation will not change overnight, this is just the beginning of a long-term and broader process. Today, these positions represent the direction we are progressing in Europe.
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