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- Road to smoke: for repeated sale of vapes to children will be punished with correctional labor
Road to smoke: for repeated sale of vapes to children will be punished with correctional labor
Fines and correctional labor for up to a year will be introduced into the Criminal Code for repeated sale of tobacco products and nicotine-containing products. For the first such case administrative responsibility will be toughened, but for the second case criminal responsibility will be imposed. The authors of the amendments note that the number of points of sale of vape products is growing rapidly, and experts confirm that minors are increasingly "debuting" with the help of alternative tobacco delivery systems. About why new amendments to the legislation, whether they will help reduce the number of smokers and how they will affect tobacco retail - in the material "Izvestia".
Corrective labor for sales
Criminal liability will appear in the Russian legislation for the repeated sale of tobacco, cigarettes, hookahs and vape to minors. The State Duma adopted such a law in two final readings at once. Changes are made to Article 151.1 of the Criminal Code. Now it assumes responsibility only for the repeated sale of alcohol to children.
"State regulation and sanctions for violation of established norms and prohibitions should become stricter and follow the goals of protecting the life and health of citizens from the consequences of consumption of nicotine-containing products," - stated in the explanatory note to the document. The amendments were authored by more than 80 deputies headed by the Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin.
The final amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation imply fines for multiple sale of nicotine-containing products to children - up to 80 thousand rubles. They also provide for correctional labor for up to one year with possible deprivation of the right to hold certain positions.
For the first such sale now comes administrative responsibility: for citizens the fine is up to 60 thousand rubles, and for legal entities - up to 600 thousand rubles.
"The law adopted today - a fair decision against those who for profit ruin the health of our children," - emphasized Vyacheslav Volodin at the meeting.
Why criminal liability was needed
In recent years, the number of outlets selling tobacco products has been growing rapidly, the explanatory note says. It cites data from Rospotrebnadzor, according to which the number of places where vape products are sold has increased by 130% over the year - from 52.4 thousand in 2023 to 120.8 thousand in the second quarter of 2024. In addition, the agency noted that in 47% of cases, the sale of such nicotine delivery devices is in violation of the law: they are sold near educational institutions, tobacco products are bought by teenagers, in such points the goods are presented open display.
The authors of the law recalled that in early 2024 members of the Youth Parliament and youth organizations of political parties conducted raids in 67 Russian regions, where they checked 848 points of sale of tobacco and nicotine-containing products. The most common violations are: open display and demonstration of products in the windows (more than 50% of facilities), sale of tobacco and nicotine-containing products to minors (20% of outlets), violation of prohibitions on advertising tobacco and nicotine-containing products (25%).
The document also points out that 44.7% of 16-17 year olds "are addicted to electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS)", the growth of smoking among 11-14 year old girls is recorded.
According to a study by the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, published in 2024, consumers of conventional cigarettes are more likely to be older people, while vapes are more popular among young people. Thus, 74.6% of Russian smokers prefer traditional smoking products (cigarettes, cigars, pipe, tobacco, etc.), 23.9% smoke vapes, electronic cigarettes, and 10.8% prefer tobacco heating systems.
What will be affected by the amendments
According to tobacco expert Vadim Zhelnin, the industry will not suffer losses due to the adopted amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. He notes that the business has never considered the sale of products to minors as the main form of income. The percentage of cigarettes or vape products purchased by teenagers is "a mere penny compared to the entire turnover in the industry," the expert added.
Evgeny Tonkiy, managing partner of the law firm Tonkiy and Partners,disagrees with him . In his opinion, with the adoption of the law will reduce the number of points of sale of vape and electronic cigarettes.
- The size of the administrative fine for legal entities for the initial sale of tobacco and nicotine-containing products to minors in conjunction with possible criminal liability for repeated sale may become an effective measure to prevent the commission of such an offense against minors," he told Izvestia.
Lawyer Yulia Smelyanets believes that changes in the Criminal Code will not completely solve the problem of underage smoking, but will stop the trend of rapid growth in the number of offenses by sellers.
- According to the National Research University Higher School of Economics, the share of Russians aged 14 to 22 who drink alcohol has halved by 2023, which was a consequence of the introduction of criminal liability for the repeated sale of alcoholic beverages to minors," said the lawyer.
Vapes are destructive to the health of a person of any age, and a teenager even more so, so the campaign to restrict the sale of these products is absolutely the right measure, said "Izvestia" doctor-otorhinolaryngologist of the clinic "Crede Experto" on Taganka Ivan Odaryuk.
- The paraffins contained in the mixtures enter the human body together with the vapor and settle on the walls of the bronchi and alveoli of the lungs ," the expert explained.
Vapes develop the same psychological dependence on the process of smoking as conventional cigarettes, so it does not help to quit smoking, but only strengthens a harmful habit, said "Izvestia" therapist "Invitro-Privolzhie" Tatiana Taradeeva.
- Because of the illusion of harmlessness, vapes have become attractive for teenagers," she said. - But if conventional cigarettes contain nicotine and tar, the liquids for electronic analogs - glycerin, propylene glycol, flavorings, particles of heavy metals.
All these substances have a negative impact on many organs and systems of the body when exposed to them for a long time. For example, their use causes diseases of the respiratory system, pathologies of the heart and blood vessels, violation of reproductive function in men and women.
Andrey Pylev, the chief physician of the federal network of expert oncology clinics "Euroonco" reminded about the danger of smoking in general.
- Smoking is one of the most studied and already repeatedly confirmed factors of oncologic diseases. And the use of one device by several people, he said, can lead to infection with hepatitis or tuberculosis.
On December 18, the State Duma should consider in the first reading and the bill, which implies a multiple increase in fines for the sale of nicotine-containing products to minors. According to the bill, the fine for citizens will be from Br200 thousand to Br300 thousand, for officials - from Br500 thousand to Br700 thousand, for legal entities - from Br1.5 million to Br2 million.
