In a surprising turn of events, Russia may take a pro-vaping stance.
The country seems to be years ahead of others globally and also one of a few to make e-cigarettes easily accessible to the public and encourage smokers to switch.
Russia has a massive smoking problem with almost double the number of adult smokers than those in the US and in the UK. The last-mentioned countries both sit at 15.5% of adult smokers whereas Russia is sitting at a staggering 29.9%.
To start battling the mammoth problem, Russia plans on regulating traditional cigarettes and e-cigarettes separately. There will be obvious restrictions to where the public can vape such as no vaping in schools, creches and the like. In order to make vaping more attractive to smokers and ultimately encourage them to switch, Russia will also look at taxing e-cigarettes much lower than tobacco products.
We are keeping an eye to see whether this plan will roll out, but we hope that more countries will regulate tobacco and vaping products separately and encourage vaping as a safer alternative to smoking.