The Non-Smoker Protection Act

Today I am devoting myself to the , Tobacco and Non-Smokers Protection Act.

What changed?

Here, the minimum age was raised from 16 to 18 years and one is now only allowed to buy and consume cigarettes oneself from the age of 18. Furthermore, if a person under the age of 18 is in a private car, it is now forbidden for all other passengers to smoke in the vehicle. For this, administrative fines of 100 € and in case of repetition even up to 1000 € may be due. Of course, this change in the law also leads to some paradoxical situations. If a 16-year-old apprentice serves in a smoky smoking restaurant all day, this is ok, but if his mother picks him up from work in the evening and smokes a cigarette in the car, you will be subject to administrative fines of up to €1,000.

My conclusion

In principle, however, it is absolutely to be welcomed that when a minor is sitting in the car, no one else reaches for a cigarette. However, I see a problem here again in the enforcement of this law, because in this law it is possible for the police to impose penalties when driving past. This means: the police officer sees a person smoking in the car and recognises that an underage person is also in the car and can thus send a fine directly afterwards. Then, of course, you get the driver’s information in which only the driver has to be stated and not the smoker himself. It would probably have been better if this offence had been made a so-called stopping offence.

This was my short and crisp point of view on this change in the law and I would be happy if you let me know on my social media channels what you think about this change.