Over 90 per cent of Italians support the ban on smoking in public places, according to a new study by Italian research institute Doxa. In the survey of 3,114 Italians of 15 years and over, 87 per cent said they would ban smoking in the workplace, while 66 per cent favoured a ban on smoking while driving. Some 83 per cent say they go to bars, clubs and restaurants as much as before the Sirchia Law one of the toughest in Europe came into force in January 2005, while almost one in ten now go out more than before. According to a parallel report from Italys health watchdog, Istituto Superiore di Sanit (ISS), bars, clubs and restaurants are now far safer, with ultra fine particles (which are most damaging to health) down 75 per cent. Helped by new legal prohibitions, the sale of cigarettes fell by nine per cent in the first four months of 2005 and penitents who have decided to quit have risen by 19.4 per cent, announced Professor Gianni Ravasi, President of the Milan branch of the Italian League for the Fight against Tumours (Lilt).