A petition calling for a ban on smoking with any type of device, with or without tobacco, in all enclosed public spaces has gathered thousands of signatures in just 24 hours. The initiator is the doctor Mihail Pautov. It calls for changing the law that only regulates the use of regular cigarettes. “An electronic cigarette is less harmful than a conventional cigarette. But she’s still harmful.” draws the doctor’s attention, in an interview for Adevărul.
Dr. Mihail Pautov: “We are exactly as we were 20 years ago, when you could smoke in the restaurant”
The Truth: Why this petition? How did you identify the need?
Dr. Mihail Pautov: It started from a personal need to breathe fresh air. In malls, in cinemas, at work, in institutions, in cafes, in restaurants. It seems that a lot of people identify with this need, because they confirmed the same thing to me: the fact that they were outraged that they went to a restaurant, and even if there was a terrace where you could smoke conventional cigarettes, you were allowed to smoke e-cigarettes inside. You can smell those devices, but it’s more than just smell, it’s toxic substances.
What do you want from the authorities?
I want the authorities to fix the lawlessness. Because, attention, law 64/2024 (no. the law amending and supplementing the legislation in the field of tobacco products) prohibits the use of these devices in public transport, because they are harmful. This means that the legislators know that these devices are harmful. Quite simply, however, the list of places where these devices are prohibited was limited to public transport. And that makes this loophole exploitable by people who want to use these devices anywhere, and we’re just like we were 20 years ago, when you could smoke in a restaurant. In many circumstances, it is worse than before. Because before you could only smoke in the restaurant, you couldn’t smoke normal cigarette in the mall or in the shops. But now you can do that with these devices.
The dangers associated with electronic cigarettes
Is smoking e-cigarettes dangerous or not? What do the studies show?
Here things must be viewed with nuance and in their complexity. An electronic cigarette is less harmful than a conventional cigarette. But it is still harmful. And people, unfortunately, when they hear it’s less harmful, they go to the absolute and think it’s not harmful. It’s like asking, “Which is more harmful, the alcohol in a glass of vodka or the alcohol in a glass of beer?” Normally from a glass of vodka, because you have more alcohol there. Likewise, in a conventional cigarette you have more harmful substances. But beer also contains alcohol, which is harmful. Likewise in vape you have harmful substances. So the comparison between a normal cigarette and a vape or a heat-not-burn is like a comparison between a glass of vodka and a glass of beer: both contain unhealthy substances, in different concentrations.
Can we also talk about passive smoking in this case?
Yes, there is 100% passive smoking. When a man smokes from a heat-not-burn it is seen that he is blowing out something that looks different than clear air. They are toxic aerosols.
It is scientifically proven by measuring in atmospheric air when using these devices. There are hundreds of studies. People who smoke heat-not-burn (tobacco heating devices) or electronic cigarettes (vapes) exhale into the room air aerosols that contain pro-inflammatory substances, substances that can exacerbate or even start asthma, substances that inflame the lungs, substances that inflame the vascular endothelium, and highly toxic substances – such as heavy metals that are released from those heaters that spray the liquid. They are substances that we inhale through passive smoking. And, beware, carcinogens are also released.
Which categories are more at risk?
We are all at risk, but of course the most at risk are vulnerable people. We are talking about children, whose respiratory system is not fully developed, does not have all our defense mechanisms, and thus a child is much more affected than an adult. Then, a child has more breaths per minute than an adult, so they will inhale more of these toxins. We are then talking about pregnant women, who will inhale these toxic aerosols, absorb them into the blood and many of them end up in the fetus. We are talking about babies at risk of sudden death. We are talking about the elderly and people with chronic lung conditions and patients with chronic diseases (heart disease, respiratory diseases such as asthma). One of the people who shared this initiative wrote that she is happy with this petition because she has asthma and in winter she cannot enter any mall or store because these devices cause her asthma attacks.
“Internal regulations, a very big trick”
Although domestic regulations prohibit the use of e-cigarettes in many cases (eg companies, concert and event organizers), people still often violate these prohibitions. Why do you think this happens?
In terms of internal regulations, this is a very big hoax. Some of the people commenting on Facebook are saying, “Why ban it? Let each restaurant decide whether to allow it or not.” Well no. That’s why there are laws. It’s like saying: “Let’s not impose taxes, let everyone decide for themselves whether or not to pay taxes.” We will all decide not to pay. The same goes for restaurants: they can’t compete with other restaurants where smoking is allowed with these devices and you say “I don’t smoke at my place”, because that will lead to business losses. That is why there is a real need for regulation, so that the rules of the game are the same for everyone. This one in the hand.
And, two in hand, domestic regulation will never be effective as a law. Because you, if you go to a show where it is forbidden to smoke electronic cigarettes and still do it, at most someone from the staff will come and reprimand you, they will say: “It’s forbidden here, please don’t smoke!”. And that’s it. But if it is prohibited by law, then by breaking the law you are harming my health. If it’s against the law and you’re still smoking, I can call the police. And the police will come to fine you and the business. And then the business will take great care that the law is respected.
Doctor Mihail Pautov’s petition can be found here.
What the legislation in other European states provides
Many countries in Europe have already included in their legislation the prohibition of e-cigarettes in closed public spaces, just like in the case of classic cigarettes. Among them are: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.
Ireland and the UK do not have national bans and rely on their own restaurant or business premises policies. France is in the same situation, but the authorities are considering new regulations.
