© Reuters
The Russian Health Ministry on January 9 proposed a blanket ban on the sale of cigarettes to anyone born after 2014 -- even when they reach the current legal smoking age of 18.
The ban would thus take effect in distant 2033, when President Vladimir Putin, at the age of 81, could hypothetically be serving a fifth term in the Kremlin.
The revolutionary proposal was contained in the draft Antitobacco Concept signed by Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova and leaked to the pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia on January 9. The document. which outlines government efforts to curb smoking from 2017 to 2022, still requires the approval of the government and has been circulated to 18 other government agencies for review.
Other proposals in the document include: banning smoking in cars in the presence of children; allowing employers to make employees work additional time to make up for cigarette breaks; and placing health warnings on individual cigarettes.
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