If there is a pack in your pocket

From June 1, new anti -tobacco restrictions came into force. But this, it turns out, is not the limit. Like the mood of smokers and what else is waiting for them

From June 1, 2014, non -smokers will be able to breathe freely - in cafes and restaurants certainly /Photo: Ilya Naimushin /Reuters

"Sky. This is an international criterion. If the smoker sees the sky over his head without glass, then he can smoke. And while he smokes, looking at the sky, let him think: “I am still early there,” answered the question “Where can I smoke now?” Chairman of the Board of the International Confederation of Consumer Societies Dmitry Yanin. The case was at a press conference on May 27, dedicated to the anti-tobacco law. In the tiny room in the building of the National News Service at the table there were only two - Yanin and the first deputy head of the State Duma Committee on the Protection of Health Unicorn Nikolai Gerasimenko - a former surgeon and a former smoker with thirty years of experience. He threw in the late 1990s. Now he is one of the main ideologists of the anti -tobacco law.

“Some restaurants build verandas, with canopies and roofs. The sky is not visible. You can’t smoke on covered verandas, right? ” - asked The New Times.

Yanin rolled his eyes: “On all verandas you can! We understand that people need to get used to. You can’t immediately set strict conditions. ”

The lawmakers are really gently with smokers. Anti -tobacco law* entered into force on June 1, 2013 - was banned from smoking at stations, at airports, at stadiums, in state institutions, hospitals and stairwells of residential buildings. They removed all tobacco advertising. But here the ban on smoking in bars and restaurants was postponed for a year - it comes into force only now. Smoking, by the way, now it will not be possible for trains and long -distance ships, as well as in hotels. And shops can no longer put tobacco on windows.

They were especially strictly dealt with the hookah - hookahs with tobacco are now prohibited in all establishments, inside and out. “Everyone probably indulged in childhood - they smoked oak or birch leaves,” Yanin smiled. “I think approximately such hookahs will now appear in the restaurant menu.”

World experience

During the first year of the anti -tobacco law, the Ministry of Health of Russia recorded a decrease in tobacco consumption by 16-17%. A decrease in mortality from cardiovascular diseases was also noted-in January 2014, it fell by 15.7% compared to January 2013.

Combat manufacturers also fall. Alexander Lyu, British American Tabacco Russia, Director of Corporate Relations, told The New Times, which, according to their estimates, in 2013, the volume of tobacco products was reduced by 7.5%. Mostly due to the growth of excise taxes. In general, the excise rate has been growing since 2010: then - 250 rubles per 1 thousand cigarettes, now - 1040. That is, already four times growth. And if in 2006 the average cost of a pack of cigarettes was 16 rubles, now - 58.

In Europe, smoking in public places fight about the middle of the zero, in the United States began even earlier-from the 1990s, but anti-tobacco laws have not been in force in all states. A number of studies of international and national organizations noted that measures such as a ban on smoking in restaurants and bars have not led to a radical decrease in the number of smokers - as a rule, we are talking about several percent. But, coupled with the growth of excise taxes, the effect nevertheless gave an effect - people simply began to smoke less.

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“I am the most unpleasant to be in a smoky room. One strains - that this is a state initiative "

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The most noticeable successes in the fight against smoking are in the States: the number of smokers from 2000 to 2010 decreased from 23.3 to 19.3%**, respiratory tract diseases decreased by 24%, and heart attacks - by 16%. In the United States, whether you smoke or not, the cost of medical insurance depends: for middle -aged smokers, it doubles, for the elderly - almost three.

Things are going well with the UK. In 2006, when they began to introduce bans on smoking in public places, 22% of the population was smoked in the country. By 2012, the number of smokers was 20%***. According to the European Commission, the number of cigarettes, daily consumed by the inhabitants of the British islands, daily: if 81.5 million cigarettes were sold here in 2000, then in 2009-58.5 million.

According to the journalist Alexander Kolyandra, who lived in the UK during the implementation of the law, the tightening was gradual and therefore not too painful: “I remember that when I worked for the BBC, we were first forbidden to smoke in the bar, then in the courtyard, and then even next to the entrance to the office. The same thing happened at the railway station at my house: at first they were forbidden to smoke on the platform, then near the entrance, then they were allowed only at a distance of 15 steps from the entrance. If you violate the law, for example, lit a cigarette in a pub, a manager will suit you and ask you not to do this. A policeman appears only when you send a manager to hell. ”

According to medical studies, the first three years after the introduction of prohibitions, the number of asthma attacks in the UK decreased by 4.9% annually, the number of heart attacks was 2.4%. But the French have not very successful experience. Anti-tobacco measures began to gradually introduce in 2006, but if in 2005 the number of smokers aged 15 to 75 was 27.3%, then in 2010-already 29.1%****. True, the average number of cigarettes consumed daily decreased - from 15.3 to 13.8.

Forbid, do not forbid?

The New Times correspondent walked along the Moscow bars and clubs a few days before the introduction of new rules and talked with smokers-is the anti-tobacco law herself strongly annoying them? Everyone complained about rising prices for cigarettes, but not a single person opposed the ban on smoking in public places. Nevertheless, they still do not want to abandon a bad habit.

In the Zhiguli bar, famous for the fact that on May 1, 2012 Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev drank beer here, there are no divisions into halls for smoking and non -smokers - they smoked everywhere. The New Times correspondent was hooked at a table to two men of about forty, Denis and Yuri. "Finally, the rights of non-smokers will protect!" - exclaimed Yuri. Denis, lit a cigarette, agreed and added: “It would be good if you equip special places - I don’t be too lazy, I will smoke there. Well, no - I will go out into the street. It's not difficult for me. "

Denis - a doctor, works in three works: in the state clinic and in two private ones. At the same time, he is actively engaged in hockey, raising the thirteen -year -old daughter Anya. He is not going to quit smoking. “Forbid, do not forbid it - there is nothing to be done with a Russian person,” he said.

“Can you imagine a club without cigarette smoke? I can't. People rest, drink, smoke ... "

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Another visitor to the Zhiguli bar, Nikolai, is a young guy from Krasnoyarsk, who came to Moscow on a business trip for one day. In his city, the local administration took tough measures a year ago. “We are fined for smoking in the wrong place, in trains for example. Therefore, we are running, hiding, - Nicholas smiles. - And the neighbors can also click if you smoke in the entrance. Really the police come. ”

The manager of the Zhiguli bar Timur Kadyrov firmly stated: if after June one of the visitors tries to smoke, he will be bred. "Perhaps someone will push off someone from our bar, but what to do?"

In "Jean-Jacques" on Nikitsky Boulevard-another popular Moscow cafe-the public was very happy about the law. Especially smoking. “It is the most unpleasant for me to be in a smoked room,” said thirty -year -old Maria, a marketer. - One strains - that this is a state initiative. It would be great if the bars independently came to such a decision, but still felt power pressure. ”

To quit smoking, however, Maria is not going to: “I like it, really. But I do not want to create inconvenience to other people. " According to the waiter "Jean-Jacques" hopes, the ashtrays in the room will be removed after June 1, but it will be possible to smoke at the tables on the street-in winter they will even put street heaters, "like in the Parisian cafes."

The law managers of Moscow clubs, such as the popular Lookin Rooms, were unhappy. “Can you imagine a club without cigarette smoke? -asks PR manager Pavel. - I can't. People rest, drink, smoke. We’ll come up with something, maybe we will agree with someone ... ”

Further measures

The government now has a bill ***** United Russia Viktor Zvagelsky, who offers from April 1, 2015 to introduce the minimum price for cigarettes - 55 rubles per pack and then increase it every year due to excise taxes and inflation. The explanatory note to the bill, which is at the disposal of The New Times, says: such a measure de “accelerate the reduction of the price availability of tobacco products, which fully corresponds to the letter and spirit of the concept of the implementation of state policy to combat tobacco consumption”.

The average retail price for the cheapest brands is now varies from 36–37 rubles. A number of domestic manufacturers who are just working in a low price segment were outraged by Zvagelsky's initiative. And they even wrote a letter to the Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov. In their opinion, the fixation of the minimum price "will damage the Russian tobacco industry, the financial interests of the state, as well as the consumer." As a result, smuggling from Belarus and Kazakhstan will also grow, and its growth will even lead to 1% loss for the Russian budget of 4.3 billion rubles, the authors of the letter assure.

In a number of countries, the law on the minimum price for cigarettes has already been adopted - in France, Austria, Ireland. But in March 2010, the European Court ruled that such rules undermine free competition, an increase in excise taxes is a more effective measure. And the minimum price was canceled.

The initiative of Zvagelsky deserves attention, said deputy Nikolai Gerasimenko. Although he also see a more effective measure of excise taxes. But he considers the argument about the inevitable growth of the smuggling of cigarettes: “We had been scared before, but in the fact of the smuggling is not so big now - from 0.7 to 2%.” At the same time, the deputy does not hide the ultimate goal of tobacco innovations - the filling of the budget: “We are now entering the period when we have difficulties with the formation of the budget for various reasons ... we will not call them. It is possible to increase revenues to the budget from cigarettes by 2-3 times. We must work on it. ”