Health, Latvia, Legislation, Markets and Companies

The ministry would like for these products to instead be located inside a locked cabinet away from view, and persons wishing to purchase them would have to ask for a specific product from the clerk-cashier.

As LETA was informed by Health Ministry spokeswoman Aija Bukova-Zideluna, the amendments have been proposed in order to introduce the recent directive passed by the European Parliament on the sale of tobacco products.

In addition to this proposal, the Health Ministry also advocated banning tobacco products with large levels of tar and nicotine.

Furthermore, the ministry would also like to see visual images on cigarette packs of the damage tobacco does to the organism, as well as ban the sale of packs with less than 20 cigarettes in them (i.e., small pack of 10 is currently available).

The Health Ministry also proposes that, in order to reduce the damage second-hand smoke causes to persons in public places, special smoking lounges in bars and restaurants will also be prohibited.

The ministry also points out that thanks to previous regulations restricting the use and sale of tobacco products, there has been a substantial decrease in the number of underage tobacco users. For example, the number of male tobacco users between the ages of 13 to 15 has dropped from 39.4% in 2011, to 25.3% in 2014, but female – from 41.4% to 23.9%.