According to The Moscow Time, Russia has ordered research on the impact of electronic cigarettes, because at least five people died in the United States.
Oleg Salagai, Deputy Minister of health, said that the Ministry of Health had instructed its leading pathologists to analyse the potential link between lung deaths and e-cigarette consumption in working age groups and asked their attending physicians to make recommendations on possible links between e-cigarettes and severe lung malfunctions.
The American Medical Association on Monday urged Americans to stop using any type of electronic cigarette until scientists have a better understanding of the cause of death.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday recommended that electronic cigarette products not be used, while investigating the causes of a series of serious lung disease cases related to smoking.
It is understood that in July, the Russian government supported the extension of the application of the unified law on tobacco circulation, consumption and propaganda to the draft of electronic cigarettes. The sponsors of the draft, Senators Valerie Lezansky, Larissa Trina and Edward Isakov, initiated proposals to amend the Russian Federal Code of Administrative Illegality and the Federal Law on the Protection of Citizens’Health from the Consequences of Tobacco Smoke and Tobacco Consumption.
The draft stipulates that violations of prohibitions and restrictions related to the circulation and use of hooka, electronic tobacco products and related products shall be investigated for administrative responsibility. It also suggests that individual entrepreneurs and legal persons should be punished more severely for violating the law to protect citizens’health from the effects of tobacco smoking.
In addition, data from the Russian Ministry of Health show that up to 300,000 people die each year from smoking-related diseases in Russia.
