Rasi to Support Legislation Aimed at Protecting Children from Nicotine Products

Bratislava, July 30 (TASR) – Parliamentary Chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) will appeal to the coalition partners and MPs to support legislation aimed at increasing the protection of children from harmful addictive substances, TASR reported on Wednesday based on Rasi's statement sent by the Parliament Office's communications department. Rasi was responding to a call by Children's Commissioner Jozef Miklosko for a ban on online sales of nicotine products. "As chair of the Slovak Parliament and as a doctor, I fully support the legislative measures that are currently being prepared by the Health Ministry in order to protect children and young people from harmful addictive substances such as nicotine products, including flavoured electronic cigarettes and nicotine pouches," said Rasi. He mentioned a ban on attractive flavours designed to target the younger generations, which would represent an important step towards reducing the availability of such products while at the same time preventing addiction. "I'll therefore appeal to the coalition partners and all MPs for broad support for the prepared legislation. It is essential to ensure that such legislation is effective and enforceable, with the outcome being an absolute ban on the sale of addictive substances to children," he added. The Health Ministry told TASR that legislation banning the sale of flavoured nicotine products and disposable vapes is currently being prepared, but the Finance Ministry raised its objections during the inter-departmental review due to the potential negative impacts on the budget. However, a discussion between both ministries is underway. The children's commissioner said that the ministries and MPs should focus on adopting effective legislative measures to prevent the sale of addictive substances to children as soon as possible. First and foremost, functional and effective age verification should be applied. He also warned about an upward trend in the number of underage users of nicotine products such as nicotine pouches and vapes. jrg/df/ko