Fumare è proibito

I'm really not sure how I feel about this:

Naples brought in tough anti- smoking measures Monday, but not everyone was convinced Italians in a city famed for flouting the law would stop lighting up in parks or near pregnant women.

"However they try and enforce this, they will meet with laughter," local councilor Gennaro Capodanno commented on the ban on smoking at demonstrations, in parks, and near pregnant women or children under 12 in public.

I'm not usually in favor of nanny state regulations like this, but on the other hand, it's not cool to smoke around little kids and pregnant women. Maybe that's why I'm opposed to this sort of thing, though. Decent people avoid that sort of behavior on their own, anyway, without any coercion from the government. It's a matter of common sense and decency.

Also, that Capodanno guy has a good point:

One politician has proposed hiring special inspectors to enforce the new smoking ban but Capodanno was skeptical.

"How can they assess who's smoking too close? Do you need to use a tape measure? And how do we know if a kid is more than 12? Does he have to carry documents on him?" he said to La Stampa newspaper.

It probably would cost more to hire a whole squad of anti-smoking cops than the city would take in on the fines.