A ban on hookahs and electronic cigarettes in public catering establishments, according to restaurateurs, will not help fight smoking. How restaurants live in the “anti-tobacco reality” six months before the complete ban on hookahs

Deputies of the Moscow City Duma submitted to the federal parliament a draft law “On state regulation of limiting the consumption of evaporative mixtures used in devices simulating tobacco smoking.” “In Russia, the number of vape bars and hookah bars, as well as specialized stores selling devices that simulate tobacco smoking, is growing. The fact that minors become frequent customers in these stores is alarming,” says the explanatory note to the document.

In particular, it is proposed to ban the sale of vapes, hookahs and other electronic tobacco media to minors, as well as ban their use in public places. The list of these places is completely identical to those mentioned in the anti-tobacco law adopted in 2013: it will not be possible to vape in the territories of schools, kindergartens, medical organizations, cultural and sports facilities, in public transport (and within 15 meters from transport infrastructure facilities), in workplaces in offices and even outdoors, in particular on beaches.

Until now, vapers were generally able to vape in offices, unless a ban was written down in corporate documents. If the law is passed, they will also have to go out with regular smokers or give up the bad habit.

But if the time to smoke one cigarette and, accordingly, the period of absence of the smoker from the workplace are still known, then in the case of vapes, the “vaporizer” is limited only by the size of the container with liquid.

Accordingly, such people may be absent from work even longer than people with nicotine addiction.

On average, smokers are absent from work 50% more often than their non-smoking colleagues: people who use tobacco are generally more likely to get sick and, accordingly, take sick leave. Thus, the responsibilities of smokers during their absence are transferred to the shoulders of non-smokers. And employees spend up to one and a half hours a day on smoking breaks during the working day, depending on the distance to the smoking area and the number of cigarettes consumed.

It is noteworthy that smoking is the most annoying habit among colleagues, ahead of even the love of gossip and chatter. These are the data from the research center of the recruiting portal Superjob. At the same time, what puts colleagues off most is not, say, the unpleasant smell from a person returning from a smoking break, but precisely his frequent absences.

According to the Chairman of the Moscow City Duma Commission on Health and Public Health Lyudmila Stebenkova, special vape cafes and establishments with hookahs will also be banned.

“There will no longer be a vape cafe, and there will be no hookahs in the cafe. The tobacco lobby is imposing its position on us, asking us to make establishments only for smokers. But our position is clear. We believe that vaping is unacceptable in public places,”

— Stebenkova told Gazeta.Ru.

Representatives of the vape business themselves, however, believe that this will have little effect on their income. “How is it that you can’t vape in a vape cafe? This is completely stupid. They don’t even have normal arguments why vapes should be banned. I think we won't have any special problems. If vaping is banned, we will switch to the format of a simple store selling electronic cigarettes. Perhaps this will affect people’s traffic in the first month if the law comes into force, but then everything will be fine,” an employee of the Vape Store Café told Gazeta.Ru.

But for catering establishments with hookahs (or without them, but where the use of vapes was allowed), the adoption of the bill could be fatal.

Now the fee for fruit hookah amounts to up to 50% of the income of many cafes, and in addition, for a number of catering outlets, hookah has become the only way to retain customers after the ban on smoking cigarettes.

As of 2015, restaurateurs have already lost an average of 10-15% of revenue due to the anti-tobacco law alone.

However, data on catering outlets varies. Thus, according to the Chaikhona No. 1 restaurant group in Moscow, an analysis of the target audience did not show any significant losses after the smoking ban law came into force. They are not particularly worried about the possible ban on vapes and hookahs. “Our analytics show that changing the assortment will not significantly change the number of visitors. The outflow will amount to no more than 5-7% of the number of guests in our restaurants. Perhaps the consumption of alcoholic beverages and cocktails will increase,” the group’s press service told Gazeta.Ru.

If the bill is adopted, appropriate amendments will be made to the Administrative Code.

Namely: smoking in public places now costs from 500 to 1.5 thousand rubles, smoking on children's playgrounds is fined 2-3 thousand rubles, and organizations are now fined from 100 thousand for selling tobacco products to minors. up to 150 thousand rubles.

Members of the Russian Association of Professional Players in the Smoking Alternatives Market (RAPIRA) agree with the opinion of legislators that children should be protected from vaping. According to them, they already prohibit the sale of media to minors. But they consider the “ban policy” with electronic cigarettes in Russia to be unfounded and ill-conceived. “For some reason, most parliamentarians and the media are exaggerating the harm caused by vaping too much. Yes, indeed, they are harmful, but not as much as they claim. For example, in the aerosols of electronic cigarettes the amount of dangerous chemical elements is less than in the smoke of conventional cigarettes: for example, the same formaldehyde is nine times less,” Aldian Dadyanov, an analyst at the Viva la Cloud portal, told Gazeta.Ru.

However, according to the authors of the bill, scientific studies have not shown the effectiveness of vaping for those who want to quit smoking. Also, according to research, vaping has a detrimental effect on the condition of the lungs and nasopharynx. And the component of vaping mixtures, propylene glycol, causes allergies and severe irritation of the respiratory tract.

Meanwhile, another problem is brewing for players in the “nicotine-free” market. On February 27, 2017, manufacturers and suppliers of such products must pay excise taxes on their goods. However, they claim that this is physically impossible to do. “The Russian Ministry of Finance has not developed the form of the corresponding declaration and the procedure for filling it out. Even if the document is approved, due to the two-month period for entry into force, market players will still remain in limbo,” RAPIRA told Gazeta.Ru.

Members of the association fear that the presence of excise taxes and the lack of a legislative framework could lead RAPIRA members to unpleasant consequences, including criminal liability, for the fact that the declaration is not filed and the excise tax is not paid within the prescribed period. In their opinion, due to legal uncertainty, legal players will leave the e-cigarette market. “Business will finally go into the shadows. “Shadow” sellers will not test products for safety.

Surrogates that are dangerous to life and health will go on sale, self-igniting counterfeits of devices and homemade mixtures will be sold.

And if the purpose of introducing excise taxes is to replenish the budget, then it is more likely to be lost than replenished,” according to RAPIRA.

Prohibited measures do not always work, says Anna Sorochinskaya, head of the Public Council on the Problem of Teenage Smoking. “First of all, minors need to be protected from vaping. We need to ensure that these devices are not sold to them. As for an adult, if electronic devices help him quit smoking, it is better to switch to electronic devices and then quit them. It’s better, of course, not to smoke anything, but when choosing the lesser evil, electronic analogues are better. Now everything is already toughened, and it seems to me that we need to act step by step and first achieve the standards that exist today. And then consider other details,” the expert told Gazeta.Ru.

https://www.site/2017-08-09/kak_restorany_zhivut_v_antitabachnoy_realnosti_za_polgoda_do_polnogo_zapreta_kalyanov

“At first everyone got tired of it, and then it turned out that the law didn’t work”

How restaurants live in the “anti-tobacco reality” six months before the complete ban on hookahs

Soeren Stache/dpa / Global Look Press

Russia is preparing a complete ban on the use of hookahs and vapes in bars, which could be introduced at the beginning of 2018. Such a measure is provided for in the priority project “Formation of a healthy lifestyle among Russians,” which has already been approved by the presidium of the Presidential Council for Strategic Development. Moreover, in 2014, as part of the “anti-tobacco campaign,” Russia actually banned smoking hookahs with tobacco in cafes and restaurants. After this, entrepreneurs came up with numerous ways to circumvent the ban. the site found out how the hookah “industry” currently works and how it is preparing for new restrictions.

According to the authors of the project on healthy lifestyle, by the end of 2017, 36% of citizens will consciously improve their health, the Izvestia newspaper reported today. The ban on hookahs and electronic cigarettes is just one of many measures to improve the health of Russians. Regulatory documents on the ban should be prepared by February 2018, but the Russian Ministry of Health has already announced that they are going to equate vapes (electronic cigarettes) with regular cigarettes. Apparently, the same fate awaits the so-called steam cocktails that establishments can now officially offer - these are tobacco-free hookahs. In addition, the sale of hookahs and vapes, as well as cigarettes, will be allowed only for Russians over 18 years of age. The head of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova today called for speeding up the adoption of this ban.

In 2014, a law prohibiting smoking of any tobacco products, including hookahs with tobacco, in public places came into force in Russia. Then restaurateurs were allowed to keep only hookahs with tobacco-free mixtures, stones, syrups and similar smoking products. All of them differ from real tobacco in that they do not have a relaxing effect, say hookah workers, so there was and is no demand for them from consumers. Almost immediately, establishment owners began to figure out how to circumvent the ban.

“At first everyone got tired of it, bought nicotine-free tobacco and sold it. But suddenly it turned out that there are no checks at all, no one is monitoring this, the law does not work. That's why everyone returned regular hookahs. Now in all establishments where hookahs are available, they are nicotine, no one is trying to deceive visitors. Such companies usually enter into contracts with restaurants or cafes, they independently purchase hookahs and tobacco, train hookah operators, work in the establishment, and it gives them 50% of the revenue. As market participants told us, most establishments operate under this scheme with hookah outsourcing.

Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua/Global Look Press

The menus of restaurants and bars usually offer, just in case, not hookahs, but steam cocktails - they do not contain tobacco or nicotine, they are light natural mixtures, and the “device” looks a little different. But this item on the menu means a regular tobacco hookah.

As a Ural restaurateur told the site, in the event of a strict ban on any types of hookahs, they will probably still have to be excluded from the menu. “The question is whether they will start monitoring this. If no one is watching, then everything will be removed first, and then returned as usual. But if it’s as tough as with cigarettes, then we’ll have to give it up,” our interlocutor said. The ban on hookahs in public catering will affect establishments in different ways. In restaurants that are primarily focused on food, without hookahs everything will be the same. According to market participants, bars where visitors come to relax and unwind will suffer. In some similar establishments, hookahs account for about 7% of revenue. The President of the Federation of Restaurateurs of Russia, Igor Bukharov, in an interview with Moscow Speaks, said that vapes and hookahs account for 25-35% of the turnover.

The situation is different with hookah bars, which specialize only in this type of service. The owner of one of the popular Yekaterinburg hookah bars anonymously told the site that all such establishments exist on a semi-legal basis. There are several ways to legalize hookah bars. Some design them as isolated smoking rooms. Others design the establishment as a tobacco store, where smoking a hookah is a kind of paid tasting. There are hookah bars organized on the “anti-cafe” principle - guests leave the amount they consider necessary, there is no clear menu and prices, in this case the establishment is not formalized at all, because in fact there is no trading activity. There is another way to organize hookah bars - the so-called “private club”, when the smoking room is organized in a private apartment, and entry there is possible only with passes and a preliminary call from trusted people.

The owner of a hookah bar, organized as a tobacco store, said that inspectors from Rospotrebnadzor do not come to such establishments in the first three years of their operation, but respond to complaints from residents or from visitors who feel ill. The press service of the Sverdlovsk department of Rospotrebnadzor said that tax holidays were announced for small and medium-sized businesses, so they can actually be checked as planned only once every three years. But complaints about hookah bars are periodically received; officials respond to such statements and “keep the facilities under control.”

A local police officer may also come to the hookah bar to check whether the establishment sells alcohol without a license and whether everything is in order with the documents. If there are minor violations, for example, the permissible noise level is exceeded, then the authorities give time to correct it, and only if the owner does not react, they issue a fine, which, depending on the violation, can range from 3 to 300 thousand rubles. The hookah bar employees we interviewed note that in Yekaterinburg officials work conscientiously, so they never hint at bribes, they themselves point out shortcomings and suggest how to correct them. In other regions the situation is often worse.

Owners of hookah bars hope that the new restrictions will not prevent them from working, because in such establishments food and drinks are often not sold on site, but are allowed to be brought with you. Some places charge a so-called “corkage fee” - a certain amount for each bottle brought. “It would be good if they made a law banning hookah smoking in restaurants and cafes in principle, but at the same time officially introduced the concept of a “hookah bar,” where you could smoke nicotine hookah and serve food and drinks. In this case, those who don’t like the smell of hookah would go to another cafe,” says the owner of a famous hookah bar.

Hookah bars are a fairly profitable business; markup on one hookah ranges from 400%. In wholesale stores, inexpensive hookahs cost an average of 2,500-3,000 rubles, a pack of quick-lighting coal of 40 pieces costs about 85 rubles, and mid-price tobacco costs 400 rubles. As they write on the profile website kalyan.bar, one hookah requires approximately 15 grams of tobacco and 4 pieces of coal. Products for one hookah will cost 32.5 rubles. The cost of a hookah, as users write on the website of a network of large hookah stores, is approximately 140 rubles, and they sell from 600 rubles in small hookah bars and for about 1300-1600 rubles in elite bars.

. “I found funny figures that opening a hookah bar costs 300 thousand, and the turnover per month is about a million - this is a myth. Otherwise, hookah bars would not be closed in such numbers. Despite all our attitude to quality and considerable investments over the year, we have not even paid off yet,” said one of the owners of hookah bars, in whose opinion it is more profitable to open a cafe.

Mahmoud Issa/ZUMAPRESS.com/Global Look Press

Owners of all types of establishments agree that a complete ban on hookahs will lead to more people smoking them at home. “Since there are few professionals among hookah makers, what can we say about ordinary people. An improperly prepared hookah can lead to headaches and even poisoning,” said a hookah bar employee.

The owners of catering establishments think the same. “Those who want to smoke will buy hookahs for home. They will still smoke. To fight for a healthy lifestyle, excise taxes can be increased. If you want to smoke a hookah, smoke it, but it will cost 5 thousand rubles. In St. Petersburg, for example, there is such a thing, the high price of hookah is limiting. Moreover, there are things that are much more harmful; let the drug trade be defeated, this will definitely improve the health of the nation. But this problem seems fictitious. Alcohol would be banned, it’s definitely more harmful, but then people would definitely take to the streets,” says Evgeniy Keksin, founder of the popular Ogonyok and Alibi bars.

What will change in the lives of Russians from January 1, 2019? There are many things, and in particular there is every reason to believe that a ban on the use of hookahs in public catering establishments will come into force. All catering establishments fall under this category - from affordable canteens to bars, cafes and restaurants.

Hookah smoking ban law

The ban on hookah in Russia falls under the law “On protecting the health of citizens from the effects of environmental tobacco smoke and the consequences of tobacco consumption,” which will be amended accordingly in order to reduce the rate of consumption of tobacco and its derivatives. The ban on hookah smoking will increase the number of locations where smoking is prohibited from June 2018. It is important to note that the ban will include those establishments where, in addition to hookah services, they feed people

The tightening of measures related to hookah in Russia is due to a number of reasons:

Question of quality - this criterion includes the composition of tobacco, which raises complaints about quality and safety
Hookah forms a special type of tobacco addiction.
Narghile is a breeding ground for bacteria that flourish in narghile components.

Where can you not smoke hookah?

The ban on smoking narghile will be in effect in public catering establishments where children under 18 years of age are not prohibited from entering. The ban on smoking vapes and electronic cigarettes will apply in bars, restaurants, cafes, communal apartments and private cars, provided that there is a minor in the car.

Is it possible to smoke hookah in public places? It is forbidden. This is the essence of the ban. Only in specialized establishments - hookah bars. The ban on smoking regular tobacco on buses and trolleybuses, at bus stops and at a distance of 3 meters around them will continue to apply. At the same distance there is a no-smoking zone at the entrance doors to shopping and entertainment centers. Smoking is prohibited in underground and overpasses.

The Ministry of Health is also introducing a ban on hookah bars in residential buildings in St. Petersburg. After the bill comes into force, it will be prohibited to organize hookah bars in premises where people live, due to the potential fire hazard and background noise.

Where can you smoke hookah? This will be allowed only in specialized establishments - hookah bars, where food is not prepared, entry is prohibited to persons under 18 years of age and an enhanced ventilation system is in place.

Punishment for violation

There are fines for breaking the law: for example, for someone who likes to smoke in a public place, his hobby will cost 500 - 1,500 rubles. If someone lights a cigarette on the playground, they will have to pay 2000 - 3000 rubles of their hard-earned money. Penalties for placing hookah bars in residential premises will be: RUB 50,000. for legal entities and 20,000 for civil servants.

Hookah smoking ban law

The tightening of measures related to hookah in Russia is due to a number of reasons:

Where can you not smoke hookah?

Punishment for violation

There are fines for violating the law: for example, for someone who likes to smoke in a public place, his hobby will cost 500 – 1,500 rubles. If someone lights a cigarette on the playground, they will have to pay 2,000–3,000 rubles of their hard-earned money. Penalties for placing hookah bars in residential premises will be: RUB 50,000. for legal entities and 20,000 for civil servants.

Who can be banned from hookah and vaping? The new bill is intended to potentially limit smoking presence and access to establishments for persons under 18 years of age. Is it possible to smoke outside? Taking into account the new amendments, smoking vapes and electronic cigarettes will be punishable by a fine similar to conventional tobacco products.

This provision is provided for in the concept of implementing the state policy to combat tobacco consumption for 2017-2022 and beyond, developed by the Russian Ministry of Health. But not all stakeholders are confident that a ban on hookahs and electronic cigarettes in restaurants and cafes will really help fight smoking. “There is no tobacco in the hookahs that are served in restaurants today. Why it is necessary to ban the so-called inhaler without the addition of tobacco is a very big question for me,” said the President of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers Igor Bukharov at a round table held at the Rossiya Segodnya MIA last Friday. – I think that today we need to work more with parents who smoke at home, because children are their exact copy. Banning smoking in food establishments will not solve this problem.”

Now, let us remind you that the ban on smoking in public catering establishments applies only to tobacco products (clause 6, part 1, article 12 of the Federal Law of February 23, 2013 No. 15-FZ " "; hereinafter referred to as the anti-tobacco law).

Find out how many tobacco products a tourist can import into the territory of the customs union without paying customs duties from the material "Carriage of goods for personal use" in the Home Legal Encyclopedia of the Internet version of the GARANT system. Get free access for 3 days!

Member of the Coordination Council for Tobacco Control under the Russian Ministry of Health Victor Zykov, on the contrary, gave several reasons at once in favor of banning hookahs in restaurants, cafes, etc.: “Firstly, it is very difficult to keep track of what exactly is in the mixture - it is very difficult to check it. Secondly, hookah stimulates the use tobacco - when smoking a hookah, it is clear that smoking is imitated and, therefore, there is an impetus for smoking tobacco.Thirdly, it was revealed that not only the mouthpiece itself, but also the pipe and the hookah liquid contain harmful bacteria and viruses "This includes staphylococcus and hepatitis. Fourthly, the effect of the mixtures themselves on the body has not yet been studied."

In addition to the ban on smoking hookahs and electronic cigarettes in public places, the new concept provides for the following provisions:

increasing the general tax on tobacco products, including excise taxes and VAT, to 70% of the retail price. Now this figure is at 41% (,). It is also planned to introduce a tax on the retail sale of electronic cigarettes in the amount of 10% of the price of the product from 2017. And gradually increase taxes so that by 2018, the increase in excise taxes will outpace inflation;

establishing a complete ban on smoking tobacco in public places, including communal apartments and other common areas where non-smokers object to smoking, as well as shopping centers, underground and overground pedestrian crossings, public transport stops and at a distance of 3 m from these objects;

introduction of a ban on the sale of tobacco to persons born after 2014 from 2033;

increasing the working hours of employees by the time they spent on “smoking breaks”;

changing the appearance of a pack of cigarettes - 65% of the space on the package should be occupied by a message about the dangers of smoking, and the name of the cigarettes itself will be written in a simple black font, etc.

According to the Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, First Deputy Director for Scientific and Medical Work of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "State Research Center for Preventive Medicine" of the Russian Ministry of Health Oksana Drapkina, the former helped reduce tobacco consumption by 10-15%. The new concept aims to further reduce this figure by another 8%.

However, a number of proposals specified in the concept, according to experts, will not be implemented in practice. First of all, this concerns the increase in the working hours of smokers. “I am sure that this initiative will not pass, since it will put pressure on the employee. After all, it is impossible to actually track the exact time he spent smoking,” commented Igor Bukharov.

The expert community was also skeptical about the provision banning the sale of tobacco to those born after 2014 from 2033. By that time, these individuals will already be adults, and, therefore, will be able to freely purchase tobacco products (). However, Viktor Zykov explained the feasibility of the proposed initiative as follows: “The measures provided for in the concept can reduce the prevalence of tobacco. Therefore, in the end, by 2033, when the generation of people born after 2014 grows up, selling them tobacco will no longer be entirely ethical, since only a few will smoke. Why sell tobacco to those who have not smoked and do not smoke? The concept is aimed at ensuring that the new generation lives without tobacco and, in the end, tobacco remains in the past as an unwise ancient habit."

In general, the expert is convinced that the measures provided for in the concept affect smokers themselves to a lesser extent and relate mainly to aspects of the production and distribution of tobacco products. And those restrictions that it does contain are determined by public demand and have already been put into effect by a number of entities at the regional level. "This is what people ask for - for example, smoking at public transport stops. Because it is impossible to tolerate when someone stands next to you at a bus stop and smokes, and then gets on the bus and exhales tobacco smoke." Let us remind you that today directly on public transport, or in places in the open air at a distance of less than 15 m from the entrances to the premises of railway stations, bus stations, airports, seaports, river ports and metro stations (clause 4, part 1, article 12 of the anti-tobacco law). Formally, the ban does not apply to public transport stops. “Or take smoking in communal apartments - an acute problem, since this is [the kitchen, bathroom and toilet, as well as the hallway. – Ed.], and there is a constant conflict there,” Viktor Zykov is convinced

At the same time, Oksana Drapkina drew attention to the fact that not all provisions of the concept are prohibitive in nature. Thus, special mention is made of measures to support citizens in quitting smoking and accompanying patients suffering from “withdrawal syndrome.” In particular, it is proposed to include relief from psychological and physical dependence on tobacco in the list of medical services provided under the compulsory medical insurance policy. And the medications used in this case should be included in the list of vital and essential medications.

At the same time, the director of the hospital therapy clinic named after. A.A. Ostroumova, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yuri Belenkov emphasized that the concept mainly covers organizational and prohibitive measures, while there are others that are no less effective. This is a personal and financial component, as an example of which the academician cited a proposal to increase the cost of VHI insurance for smokers. And also the emotional component, that is, the impact on the feelings and emotions of the smoker himself (carrying out personal advertising campaigns, visiting hospitals, talking with patients suffering from cancer of the larynx and lungs, etc.).

In addition, Yuri Belenkov believes that currently not enough attention is paid to informing people about how to quit smoking. In his opinion, in addition to the implementation of the measures provided for in the concept, it is necessary through the media to convey to citizens the basic methods for quitting smoking, including the recommendations of psychologists.

Solving the problem of tobacco smoking is essential - all experts were unanimous on this. According to data announced by Oksana Drapkina, from 300 thousand to 400 thousand citizens die in Russia every year from diseases associated with tobacco use. It has been scientifically proven that smoking reduces life expectancy for men by 9 years, and for women by 5.6 years.