The ban on smoking in indoor public places to cover all smoking products, including non-tobacco ones, as well as hookahs. Such changes in the Health Act are proposed by PP-DB.
If the changes are accepted in the plenary hall, it is foreseen to increase the sanctions for sites that do not comply with the ban. Facilities that repeatedly violate the ban are threatened with closure for a certain period of time.
The state health inspectors from the regional health inspectorates, who are charged with the task of monitoring compliance with the ban, will also include control bodies of the regional directorates for food safety, police authorities and persons designated by the mayors of the municipalities.
Fines
The penalties for smokers who violate the ban remain – from BGN 300 to BGN 500, and if the same violation is repeated – from BGN 500 to BGN 1,000. However, there is an increase in the fine for sole traders and legal entities. The moment he allows the commission of a violation in an object managed by him, he is punished with a fine of BGN 300 to BGN 500, with a pecuniary sanction of BGN 1,000 to 1,500, when the violation was committed by a sole trader, or with a pecuniary sanction of BGN 3,000 to 5,000, when the violation was committed by a legal entity. Now, however, the PP-DB propose that the fines be raised to between BGN 500 and BGN 1,000 for a sole trader and a property sanction of BGN 2,000 to BGN 3,000. If the violation was committed by a legal entity, the fine was raised to BGN 8,000 .
A loophole in the law
In January, the Sofia District Court ruled that smoking smokeless cigarettes indoors is legal. The court is motivated by the fact that according to the law, only smoking is prohibited indoors in public places, and not the use of tobacco in general. Thus, the court held that smokeless devices do not fall under the ban because they heat tobacco up to 350 degrees, but without burning, and when they are used, no smoke is formed. To close the loophole in the law, PP-DB propose that the word “tobacco smoking” be replaced with “the use of tobacco products and related products, smoking products other than tobacco products and water pipe products that do not contain tobacco”. ‘.
Dangerous to health
According to data from an international WHO study, Bulgaria ranks fifth out of 42 countries in smoking hookah at least once a week among 11-13-year-olds, and second in smoking once a week by 15-year-olds. Due to a low health culture, many people consider hookah smoking with non-tobacco mixtures to be harmless, and the fashion trend among young people in Europe and the world for group smoking leads to harm for passive smokers as well.
When using the hookah, toxic substances are inhaled, which are also found in standard cigarettes, but with the hookah, the coals used to ignite the mixture increase the harm to health, it is written in the reasons for the changes to the Health Act. The burning of the hookah is accompanied by the release of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide (in case of incomplete combustion), nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and solid particles. The harm to the health of hookah smoking is related to damage to the respiratory system, cardiovascular system, dental cavity and teeth. Chronic hookah smokers develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease more often, as well as gingivitis and tooth loss.
An additional risk factor for hookah smoking is repeated inhalation from the pipe. Unlike smoking a cigarette, it can last about 45 minutes on average, while with a cigarette it is about 5 minutes.
Prohibition
From January 1 of this year, the sale of smokeless flavored cigarettes was finally banned. The law was tied to stricter rules of the European Union from 2022, with which our country had to comply. Bulgaria was threatened with sanctions because it was slow to implement the European directive in the law on tobacco and tobacco products.
