The sale of snus and nicotine gummies will be banned

Wholesale and retail trade in smokeless tobacco products such as chewing tobacco, snuff tobacco, nasvay, and other chewing and sucking nicotine-containing mixtures without tobacco will be banned in Pridnestrovie. The law-in-draft that amends the Law "On protecting the health of citizens from the effects of second hand tobacco smoke and the consequences of tobacco consumption" and the Code of Administrative Offenses, was adopted by the deputies today in the first reading.

According to the author of the legislative initiative Yuri Kravchuk, such chewing and sucking mixtures with nicotine have become popular among young people due to their availability. Moreover, the dose of nicotine that enters the human body is much higher than when smoking cigarettes. There may even be cases of death, the deputy noted. But the distributors cannot be held accountable under the law. Thus, it is proposed to prohibit the trade in this type of tobacco and nicotine-containing products on the territory of Pridnestrovied and introduce a fine for their distribution - from 100 to 300 MW (from 1840 to 5520 rubles).

The idea of ​​limiting the sale of snus and other smokeless tobacco and non-tobacco mixtures at the legislative level was submitted to the Supreme Council by the deputies of the PMR Youth Parliament. In early 2020, young Pridnestrovian parliamentarians sent a corresponding appeal to the Chairman of the Supreme Council and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

At the same time, he emphasized that there are no official statistics, since the Ministry of Internal Affairs cannot record what is not a violation of the law. After adoption of the law-in-draft in the second reading and signing by the President, the trade in smokeless tobacco products and sucking nicotine-containing mixtures without tobacco in Pridnestrovie will be officially banned.

In July, the Supreme Council adopted amendments to the law “On protecting the health of citizens from exposure to second hand tobacco smoke and the consequences of tobacco consumption” and to the Code of Administrative Violations. They prohibit children and adolescents from using devices that simulate smoking, involve minors in this process, and impose fines for selling hookahs, vapes and e-cigarettes to them. Now the ban will be introduced on the trade in snus and other tobacco and nicotine-containing chewing mixtures. The parliamentarians will continue working on the draft law in the second reading.