The proposals also include, for example, drastic tightening of tax-free passenger importation of tobacco products.
Social– and the working group of the Ministry of Health (STM) proposes raising the age limit for smoking to 20 years.
According to the proposal, tobacco products, nicotine liquids and tobacco substitutes containing nicotine should not be sold, otherwise given away or passed on to people under the age of 20.
At the same time, the age limit for the ban on importing and possessing the products in question would be raised to 20 years. Instead, the age limit for non-nicotine products under the Tobacco Act, such as smoking tools, would remain at 18 years.
Information can be found in the ministry’s report, which also describes several other measures proposed by the working group to limit smoking.
The proposed changes to the Tobacco Act also include, for example, the removal of smoking areas in food stores and the banning of smoking on the terraces of these stores.
The task of the working group was to make proposals for legal changes that support Finland to give up tobacco and nicotine products by 2030.
Tobacco– and passenger imports of nicotine products would be significantly restricted in the working group’s report. The passenger import of snuff, chewing tobacco and snuff would be completely banned.
The number of cigarettes imported tax-free from outside the EU would be limited from the current 200 cigarettes to 40 cigarettes. Likewise, the number of cigars imported duty-free would drop from 50 to 10.
The tax-free passenger import of small boats from outside the EU would be limited from 100 to 20. Tax-free passenger import of pipe, hookah and cigarette tobacco from outside the EU would be reduced from the current 250 grams to a fifth, i.e. 50 grams.
Many of the working group’s proposals related to smoking-free housing communities. For example, in new tenancies there would be a basic ban on smoking in the apartment, on the balcony belonging to it and in outdoor areas.
Housing communities would also be allowed to decide on a smoking ban in apartments, on balconies and in outdoor spaces used by residents. A ban would be possible if smoke could drift into the premises of other residents other than exceptionally.
Consequences for violating smoking bans would be tightened. Taking control of an apartment in housing stock companies would become possible based on the violation of smoking bans. This would also be possible if it is a smoking ban decided by the apartment community itself.
In the proposal the authority would be given the opportunity to conduct an involuntary apartment inspection if the aim is to find out about repeated violations of smoking bans.
The definition of indoor space in the Tobacco Act would be changed from the current one. The purpose is to get the definition to match the tobacco framework agreement better than the current one.
“Interior space would be defined as any space with a roof or one or more walls,” reads the ministry’s report.
The report of the working group of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health also has other restrictions related to smoking.
Outdoor smoking bans would be extended to, for example, sports fields and arenas, as well as land-based swimming pools and amusement parks.
The state subsidies granted on the basis of the Sports Act and the Youth Act would be more closely tied to smoking cessation. One of the evaluation criteria for granting grants would be commitment to preventing the use of tobacco and nicotine products.
For example, in the case of the Sports Act, prevention should be committed in all activities, if the activity in question is partially or fully aimed at minors.
Tobacco Act the goal is that no more than five percent of Finns use tobacco or nicotine products in 2030. This goal has not yet been reached.
More than 12 percent of Finns between the ages of 20 and 64 smoke daily in 2020, according to statistics from the Institute of Health and Welfare (THL). 13.5 percent of men and 11.3 percent of women in these age groups smoked at that time.
The smoking of people over 65 also exceeds the goal of the Tobacco Act, as 6.1 percent of this age group will smoke daily in 2020. The goal was achieved for people over 75, as 3.2 percent of them will smoke daily in 2020.
There are significant differences in smoking rates according to educational background. Only 5.3 percent of highly educated people smoked daily in 2020, while the number of people with low education was 15.4 percent. According to THL’s statistics, up to 17.2 percent of low-educated men smoke in 2020.
According to THL, around 5,000 Finns die each year from diseases caused by tobacco.
“In a year, the work input of at least one central hospital is used to treat tobacco-related diseases”, is written on THL’s statistics pages.
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