The Russian health ministry is planning to ban sale of cigarettes to anyone who is born afer the year 2015, according to reports. If it comes into effect, the country will be the first to take such a tough stance against tobacco.
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Although similar anti-smoking policies have been put forth by anti-tobacco campaigners in other countries too, they have never received full government support for such proposals.
Russia has always been tolerant of tobacco use and smoking and restrictions on public smoking in the country were introduced only in 2013. However, the country is gradually becoming stringent against smoking and is toughening its anti-tobacco laws.
The ministry's proposals, however, have raised serious doubts about how effective a smoking ban on an entire generation would be. There are also other concerns that the already thriving fake tobacco business in black market in Russia could get a boost and could even be worse for public health.
A member of the Russian parliament's health committee, Nikolai Gerasimenko said: "This goal is absolutely ideologically correct," The Times reported. Gerasimenko, however, added that he was not sure if such a ban would be put into law in the country.
Commenting on the cigarette ban proposal, a Kremlin spokesperson said that such a ban would require serious consideration and consultation with other ministries. The move would also draw backlash from the top tobacco companies in the country.
Reports state that Russia has improved significantly in the drop in the number of smokers. According to Tass news agency reports, the total number of smokers in the country dropped by almost 10 percent by 2016.
