STEVANDIĆ: LAW ON PROTECTING HEALTH FROM TOBACCO PRODUCTS NEEDED, BUT WITHOUT DISCRIMINATION

BANJA LUKA, DECEMBER 23 /SRNA/ - President of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska Nenad Stevandić believes that the Law on Protecting Public Health from Tobacco and Other Smoking Products is necessary, but stressed that it must not create any form of discrimination and should be viewed primarily from a health perspective.

Stevandić said that the proposed legislative solution should have an educational effect. "We need such a law, and we have to start somewhere. This is a problem that is difficult to define, and even more difficult to define solutions for," Stevandić said during the parliamentary debate on the proposed law. He noted that it is necessary to determine what the concrete solution should be-restriction or regulation. Stevandić believes that many smokers would stop consuming cigarettes if they saw what lung cancer looks like. "In Slovenia, people are used to smoking outdoors, and that has become part of everyday culture. We need to think about whether our awareness is at that level, whether we are moving toward evolution or toward a revolution that implies non-implementation of the law," Stevandić emphasized. He expressed confidence that the proposed legislative solution would be fully effective in a few years. Stevandić also pointed out that various products are being imposed on children through different influencers on social media. "Our children will not reach for cigarettes on their own, but we have influencers who promote products that attract attention, and this penetrates the subconscious of young people," Stevandić said.