Persons under 18 will not be able to buy cigarettes

The sellers of cigarettes are obliged to ask the buyers to show their identity card so as to see that the person is over 18. The bill providing this was put forward by Liberal MP Valeriu Munteanu and was passed in first reading by Parliament on November 23. Valeriu Munteanu said the state should step up efforts to protect the young generation from the contemporary vices. “Regretfully, the number of teens who smoke and drink alcohol has increased during the last few years. The age at which the adolescents try such stimulants fell under 14. A large part of the teens aged 16 smoke and drink alcohol often and their number is on the rise,” he stated. The MP said the children have access to alcohol and tobacco and this is serious. Even if the Law on Tobacco bans the sale of tobacco and alcohol to minors, most of the students admit that they can easily buy cigarettes or alcoholic beverages. “Unfortunately, the mechanism specified in the Code of Administrative Offenses is inapplicable. The sellers can anyway say that they considered the buyer was grownup, even if they were 15-16. The legislation should be amended so that the vendors are obliged to check the documents,” said Valeriu Munteanu. In the same sitting, there was discussed another bill proposed by the Liberal-Democrat MPs Liliana Palihovich and Valeriu Ghiletski. The bill says the outlets selling tobacco products should be obliged to put in a public place a notice that the sale of tobacco products to persons under 18 is prohibited. The bill also bans smoking in rooms and in private units of transport where there are minors. The fine for selling tobacco products to minors will be raised from 1,600 to 2,400 lei for private individuals. The legal entities will be fined 7,000 lei. The two bills were merged into one.