Russia Wants To Ban Smoking For People Born After 2015

Russia has hardened its stance on smoking in recent years, is considering banning the sale of tobacco to all citizens born after 2015 in a drastic move that’s got people talking.

Russia, which was previously very behind other countries when it came to the fight against smoking, is about to get ahead on stringent anti-smoking laws.

Since a ban on smoking in public places came into force in 2013, the number of smokers in the country fell rapidly from 41% to 31%. But there are still way too many smokers in Russia and the country wants to do something radical – bring in a complete ban on the sale of tobacco to those born after 2015.

This announcement from the Ministry of Health has taken over the English-speaking press, which argues that it’s too drastic and is unfeasible to the point of engendering a tobacco black market.

According to the Independent, “there were also concerns that fake tobacco sold on the black market could be even worse for public health”. In response to this, however, Nikolai Gerasimenko, a member of the parliament’s health committee, says “this goal is absolutely ideologically correct”.