09 August 2019 - Prohibition of smoking in enclosed public places in Montenegro will enter into force on Wednesday, August 14th, after the Law on Restriction of Tobacco Use was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Montenegro on August 7th.
The law, which bans the use of tobacco products in public indoor areas, except in casinos, was passed by parliament in a unanimous vote of 42 votes on July 31st, reports RTCG. It is scheduled to enter into force eight days after its publication in the Official Gazette of Montenegro.
At a session of the parliamentary Committee on Health, Labour and Social Welfare on July 16, Health Minister Kenan Hrapović said that the initiative for this law was due to the fact that the previous acts regulating this area did not produce the expected results.
With the adoption of the new Law on the Restriction of the Use of Tobacco Products, the Law on Fees will cease to apply, and it will no longer be possible to pay fees to allow smoking in some part of the facility.
It is possible to designate a specific part of the space that the owner or user designates solely for this purpose. The law clearly stipulates the conditions of insulation, surface, position and equipment of that part of the space: the room must be insulated in such a way that no tobacco smoke can flow into the rest of the space, and the surface must not be less than 10 square meters, must not occupy more than 20 per cent of the workspace or public space and should not be intended for passage to other spaces.
The new law does not allow smoking in any room or area where food and drink are consumed. The request of the Chamber of Economy of Montenegro that organisers of games of chance should be an exception to the law was accepted, and the casinos expressed their willingness to pay fees in addition to specific ventilation apparatus and air purifiers in the amount determined by the Government.
Minister Hrapović said earlier that in our country, about 400 people have lung cancer a year, and that, according to data from 2015, it costs about 70,000 EUR to treat just one patient. According to Hrapović, this is, among other things, an alarm for the health system, which indicates the need for improvement, first of all, preventive action.
Read more about lifestyle in Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.
