{"id":30619,"date":"2025-11-13T10:29:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T10:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/?p=30619"},"modified":"2025-11-13T10:34:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T10:34:25","slug":"putin-backs-plan-for-total-vape-ban-in-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/post\/putin-backs-plan-for-total-vape-ban-in-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"Putin backs plan for total vape ban in Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Russian President and noted germaphobe Vladimir Putin has backed a proposal to outlaw vapes nationwide.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a visit to a sports and education center in Samara on Thursday, Putin responded positively to an appeal from Yekaterina Leshchinskaya, head of the pro-Kremlin youth group Healthy Fatherland, which has been campaigning for a ban. Leshchinskaya pointed to the example of other countries that have already outlawed vaping products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt is important not only to make such a decision, but also to work with young people,\u201d Putin said, ever mindful of maintaining a steady supply of cannon fodder. Turning to Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, he added: \u201cHere is Dmitry Nikolaevich [Chernyshenko], he\u2019s nodding. Our government supports this.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The endorsement marks the strongest signal yet that Russia may outlaw vaping altogether. Between 3.5 and 4 million Russians currently use vapes, according to figures<\/a> cited by state news agency RIA Novosti.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From pilot bans to national law<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Putin had already backed a pilot project in the Nizhny Novgorod region earlier this year to test regional bans, supported by the consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor. The president\u2019s latest comments suggest the idea could now move to the national level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The push for a full prohibition has been gathering speed in parliament. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has called vapes \u201cliquid poison\u201d and warned of their health dangers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said public opinion is behind the move, citing a survey in which 74 percent of 265,000 respondents supported a complete ban. Volodin has argued that previous \u201chalf-measures,\u201d such as last year\u2019s ban on vape sales to minors, have failed to curb use among teenagers, so naturally, a total ban in a country that never circumvents regulations will definitely work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawmakers push for tougher restrictions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cVapes are evil,\u201d Deputy Chairman Vladislav Davankov said following Putin\u2019s remarks, strong words in a country where the bar for \u201cevil\u201d is traditionally set a touch higher. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe State Duma will review the ban on vape sales in the near future.\u201d Yaroslav Nilov, head of the Duma Committee on Labour and Social Policy, said the measure is urgent as the average age of vape users continues to fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawmakers say the proposed ban is part of a broader effort to reduce nicotine addiction and protect youth health ahead of conscription. The Duma is also reviewing a bill that would restrict the sale of nicotine products at public transport stops and tighten rules on tobacco-related advertising and packaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Revenue concerns and health priorities<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Not everyone is on board. The always pragmatic Finance Ministry has warned that an outright ban could cost the state up to 15 billion rubles (\u20ac163 million) in annual tax revenue and fuel black-market trade, no small amount for a developing nation like Russia. Public health advocates counter that the social benefits far outweigh the financial hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe health of our people, especially the youth, is more important than any commercial interest,\u201d Duma deputy Dmitry Gusev wrote in a public post on his official Telegram account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If approved, Russia would join a growing group of countries enforcing full or partial bans on vaping products. The government has framed the move as part of its long-running anti-tobacco campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Russian President and noted germaphobe Vladimir Putin has backed a proposal to outlaw vapes nationwide. During a visit to a sports and education center in Samara on Thursday, Putin responded positively to an appeal from Yekaterina Leshchinskaya, head of the pro-Kremlin youth…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":990005,"featured_media":30620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[257],"tags":[25,186],"slider":[],"class_list":["post-30619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-news","tag-nicotine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/990005"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30619"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30661,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30619\/revisions\/30661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30619"},{"taxonomy":"slider","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/slider?post=30619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}