E-cigarettes in Russia: Up to 4 million people are using them, President Putin supports a complete ban

Photo caption — The buying and selling of electronic cigarettes is becoming more and more popular, especially among young people and teenagers. Photo: VNA

Russian Federation RT channel reported on November 7 that President Vladimir Putin expressed support for the proposal of public health activists and lawmakers to impose a complete ban on the sale of electronic cigarettes across the country.

During a visit to a sports and education center in the city of Samara on Thursday (November 6), Ekaterina Leshchinskaya, head of the “Healthy Country” social movement, raised the issue with President Putin, citing successful examples from neighboring countries and other parts of the world.

In response, the Russian leader nodded in agreement and said that Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko had also expressed similar support.

“You see, (Deputy Prime Minister Chernyshenko) is also nodding. Our government supports this,” Putin said, adding that in addition to a legal ban, awareness-raising activities, especially among young people, were also needed.

According to estimates cited by RIA Novosti news agency, there are currently between 3.5 and 4 million Russians using e-cigarettes.

In August, President Putin approved a pilot project in the Nizhny Novgorod region to test a ban on the sale of e-cigarettes at the regional level, which was supported by the Consumer Rights Protection Agency (Rospotrebnadzor).

The idea of a complete ban on e-cigarettes is gaining growing support in Russia's lower house of parliament (State Duma).

Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin previously described e-cigarettes as “liquid poison” and warned of the health risks they pose.

According to Mr. Volodin, in a public survey with 265,000 participants, up to 74% supported a complete ban.

The speaker of Russia's State Duma said previous "half-measures" such as a ban on the sale of e-cigarettes to minors by 2023 were not enough.

“Electronic cigarettes are harmful. The State Duma will soon consider banning the sale of electronic cigarettes,” Duma Deputy Speaker Vladislav Davankov said after Putin’s remarks.

The chairman of the Duma's Committee on Labor and Social Policy, Yaroslav Nilov, also stressed the urgency of the measure, noting that the age of e-cigarette users is decreasing while health risks are increasing.

Critics of the proposal warn that a blanket ban could push e-cigarette sales to the black market.

The Russian Ministry of Finance also warned that a complete ban could cost the budget up to 15 billion rubles ($189 million) a year.

However, lawmakers assert that public health must take priority over financial gain.

“The health of our people, especially young people, is more important than any commercial interests,” Deputy Speaker of the Russian State Duma Dmitry Gusev wrote on Telegram.

According to incomplete statistics, there are more than 40 countries in the world that have banned e-cigarettes. In the ASEAN region, there are 6 countries that have completely banned e-cigarettes: Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Laos, Brunei, and Cambodia.

According to NBC News, Maldives, a country that has completely banned e-cigarettes, has since early November completely banned smoking, buying or selling tobacco products on its territory for people born after January 1, 2007.

With this decision, Maldives has officially become the first country to apply a generational smoking ban.

This is seen as a bold step towards protecting public health and moving towards a smoke-free future.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/van-de-quan-tam/thuoc-la-dien-tu-o-nga-co-toi-4-trieu-nguoi-dang-su-dung-tong-thong-putin-ung-ho-cam-hoan-toan-20251107164759160.htm