The Ministry of Health announced today that the Draft-Antismoking Law will introduce comprehensive regulation of all nicotine-based products, including traditional cigarettes, electronic cigarettes (with or without nicotine), heated tobacco, smokeless nicotine products, and items that imitate smoking.
The proposal includes a ban on the production, import, and sale of flavored nicotine products – such as fruit, sweet, menthol, herbal, and other varieties, which are believed to ease first-time use and accelerate dependency. Health Minister Azir Aliu emphasized that the primary goal is to protect young people.
Recent surveys show that 9% of students aged 13 to 15 use electronic cigarettes, 4.9% use heated tobacco products, and 10.6% reported having tried them at least once.