Anti-tobacco bill passed

The Azerbaijani parliament has passed a bill restricting tobacco use, according to a story on News.az quoting AzVision.

Few details of the bill were given, though the story said that it comprised three chapters and 17 articles setting out a number of anti-tobacco measures, including a list of those places where tobacco smoking was to be banned.

The bill was discussed at the plenary session of Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis (parliament), put to the vote and adopted at its first reading.

The chairman of the parliament’s Labor and Social Policy Committee Hadi Rajabli was said to have provided information on the bill, which he described as being in line with ‘social demands’.

He told parliament that 67.5 percent of men and 52.5 percent of women suffered from tobacco dependence.

“It is intolerable that this all leads to drug addiction, which causes discontent in society” he said.

“I am glad that the draft law has also been discussed in the press and the society appreciated it,” he added.

However, the mood wasn’t totally anti-tobacco. The committee chairman noted that interest in Azerbaijani tobacco had increased abroad, and that the adoption of the new bill did not mean that less tobacco would be produced in the country.