According to Russian experts, a complete ban on tobacco sales may become a new policy, highlighting the health risks of smoking and proposing measures such as restrictions on the addition of flavors to vape liquids.
Key Points:
- A complete ban on tobacco sales will become Russia’s new policy.
- Scholars from the Russian Academy of Sciences emphasize the importance of anti-smoking legislation.
- Russia may further strengthen tobacco control efforts.
- A new proposal restricts the addition of flavors to e-liquids.
According to an August 6 report by m24, epidemiologist Gennady Onishchenko, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Vice President of the Russian Academy of Education, proposed that Russian law should move towards a complete ban on tobacco sales.
Onishchenko made this point in response to a proposal by State Duma Deputy Speaker Boris Chernyshov to add warning images to tobacco heating system packaging. He emphasized the significant harm caused by smoking and recalled that Russia passed a law on smoking prevention in 2013. This law regulates tobacco labeling, licensing, and the reduction of tobacco sales locations.
Onishchenko stated explicitly, “We don’t need more laws right now, just some administrative regulations to completely ban the sale of these harmful substances.”
Previously, a group of lawmakers, led by Liberal Democratic Party leader Leonid Slutsky, proposed a bill to ban the addition of flavors to e-liquids. Slutsky, the party leader, stated that while manufacturers use various additives to enhance their products’ appeal, they remain silent about the actual ingredients in the liquids.
