Checks at “Shisha Bars”, joint operation by the Carabinieri NAS and the Customs and Monopolies Agency
The checks carried out led to the reporting of 5 people to the Administrative Authority and the simultaneous seizure of various types of molasses for hookahs for a total of over 68 kilos.
Checks at “Shisha Bars”, joint operation by the Carabinieri NAS and the Customs and Monopolies Agency
In recent days, staff from the NAS and the Customs and Monopolies Agency have carried out several checks throughout the national territory against the "shisha bar", exercises in which it is performed the sale and simultaneous consumption of hookah molasses and water pipe tobacco, made available by the operator.
Overall, they were over 100 public establishments inspected and have been ascertained various violations of the law in this matter, with particular reference to the failure to possess, by some owners of the aforementioned businesses, of the so-called "special license", or of the authorization for the sale, with simultaneous consumption on site, of molasses for hookahs and tobacco for water pipesThe checks carried out led to the complaint to the Administrative Authority of 5 Guests and to the contextual Seizure of different types of hookah molasses for a total of over 68 kilos, As without the Italian national authority mark.
In fact, the molasses for hookahs and the tobaccos for water pipes held and sold must be equipped with a legitimation stamp and registered in the marketing table of the Customs and Monopolies Agency.
The lack of the aforementioned authorization for the sale, with simultaneous consumption on site, of the products in question, entails, pursuant to art. 40-quinquies of Legislative Decree no. 504/1995, cd TUA, an administrative fine of 5.000 to 10.000 euros and, in the most serious cases, or for quantities put on sale exceeding 5 kilos, a criminal penalty.
However, in the case of administration of molasses for hookah in packages without a legitimation mark, and, therefore, of evasion of assessment and payment of excise duty on manufactured tobacco pursuant to art. 40-bis of the aforementioned TUA, a proportional administrative sanction of 5 euros per gram, in any case not less than 5.000 euros, and up to a maximum of 75.000 euros for quantities equal to 15 chili.
While a criminal sanction in the cases of quantities exceeding 15 kilos or in the presence of aggravating circumstances.
The activity, the result of the effective synergy between the Carabinieri and the Customs and Monopolies Agency, constitutes an important result that demonstrates the constant collaboration between the two institutions. protection of legality and consumer health.
When we think about the harm caused by smoking – even passive smoking – our mind runs to cigarettes, cigars, pipes, the increasingly widespread e-cigarettes and tobacco heaters. However, we almost always forget about another type of voluptuous smoke: the hookah or water pipe, also known by the name of Shisha.
It is an ancient instrument, born in Egypt, whose diffusion throughout the world is now linked to a combination of factors, including the captivating aromas that can be added to it and a general underestimation of its toxic effects.
The operation is simple: a bottle containing cold water, a central body made of a cane that dips into the water, a brazier at the other end and a tube to suck up the essences…basically a pipe, but with water. But even the smoke from a water pipe contains nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide as well as heavy metals.
Therefore, smoking hookah can harmful to health like smoking cigarettes, whether it is active smoking or passive smoking. Indeed, It could also be more dangerous considering the longer time spent smoking: it is estimated, in fact, that the duration of a cigarette (between five and seven minutes) allows 8-12 puffs; the hookah “session”, instead, it lasts between twenty and eighty minutes, in which the shots are between 50 and 200.
This would mean that the smoke inhaled during a hookah session could reach up to equivalent to that of approximately 100 cigarettes (see SIPa.D. Italian Society of Addiction Pathologies ‒ click here). Added to this is the risk of transmitting infectious diseases: if a hookah tube with the same mouthpiece is passed from person to person, contagious pathogens present in saliva can be passed from mouth to mouth.
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