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St Petersburg legislature urges tighter punishment for selling cigarettes to teenagers

Yavlinsky said that the legal ban on selling tobacco to persons under age was introduced in Russia more than ten years go, but its effectiveness left much to be desired

ST. PETERSBURG, October 3 (Itar-Tass) —— St. Petersburg’s legislators have suggested taking measures at the federal level to tighten punishment for selling tobacco to teenagers.

The proposed amendments to a number of legal acts envisage responsibility for business owners and the seller’s right to demand documents confirming age. The legislative assembly adopted by a majority vote the draft message to the State Duma, proposed by Grigory Yavlinsky, the leader of the Yabloko faction in the city legislature.

Yavlinsky said that the legal ban on selling tobacco to persons under age was introduced in Russia more than ten years go, but its effectiveness left much to be desired.

“According to VTsIOM polls more than a third of teenagers under seventeen smoke systematically,” he explained.

The authors of the bill suggest the same restrictions on trade in tobacco as those on trade in alcohol.

“The size of the fine is not the only thing that counts. It is necessary to make both individual salespersons and outlets responsible. This is a field of responsibility of federal legislation,” St. Petersburg legislature speaker Vyacheslav Makarov said. “I do hope the State Duma will vote for this law.”

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