Rospotrebnadzor on January 19 supported the idea of State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin to legally ban vapes in Russia and called this idea aimed at “preserving the health of the population.” As Dmitry Yanin, chairman of the board of the Confederation of Consumers, told The Insider, both in Russia and in other countries there really is a problem with vapes, as children are starting to use them. However, vapes help adults quit smoking, in countries where science is developed, they are prescribed even to pregnant women who want to give up cigarettes. Therefore, the authorities need to discuss initiatives that will stop the activities of outlets selling vapes to children, and not ban them for everyone.
“There is a position of the largest anti-tobacco organization Action on Smoking and Health (ASH UK). She was the first in the world to pass legislation in 2006, which we then copied and which is the gold standard for smoke-free public places. The ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, the ban on cigarette advertising and the increase in excise taxes are all wonderful. The same organization claims that vaping (provided that children are not allowed to use them) is an effective tool if a person wants to quit smoking.
No one has any doubts about banning them for children – neither the FDA in the USA, nor the Association of Physicians in the UK. Also, the British health regulator has no doubt that vaping helps the smoker to give up cigarettes. They are very meticulous about the pros and cons of electronic cigarettes and state that many British smokers have given up smoking by switching to vapes. The UK Smoking Cessation Center prescribes and distributes vapes, including to pregnant women who cannot quit smoking. The smoker is "on the dose", only 5% can quit smoking on moral and strong-willed efforts. This is the position in countries where there is science. In those countries where vaping is developed, the level of consumption of conventional cigarettes is negligible compared to what it was 30 years ago.
The ban will have a positive effect on children. What to do with adults is not clear. Volodin was not a fighter against smoking before, he opposed when the anti-tobacco law was passed, until Putin and Medvedev spoke out, he did not play against the tobacco companies. The ban on vapes is a game in favor of tobacco companies that will keep smokers on the most traumatic form of nicotine use.
Scientifically advanced countries do not ban vaping, they can only discuss the concentration. And we have completely harmonized legislation with Europe, so we can discuss tougher liability for the sale of vapes to children, so that it would be very traumatic for business. But banning vapes in general doesn’t give a damn about the lives of tens of millions of Russian smokers. It's not that they don't want to, they can't quit cigarettes, and they need a form of nicotine delivery because their brains are dose dependent. Vaping gives your brain nicotine, but it doesn't kill your lungs, blood vessels, and everything else."
In 2019, there were 18 deaths in the US associated with an unknown lung disease. Doctors linked the disease to vape smoking, in total more than 1,000 people asked for help. Most of the patients smoked mixtures containing tetrahydrocannabinol, they singled out shortness of breath, fatigue and chest pain among the symptoms. In the same year, Russia passed a bill equating electronic cigarettes, vapes and hookahs to tobacco products.