The draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms has just been submitted to the National Assembly Standing Committee for comments.
One of the notable contents proposed is the regulation that cigarettes are not allowed to be sold outside the gates of educational institutions and medical facilities within a radius of 100m from the nearest campus boundary.
This is a necessary regulation, because schools and medical facilities must be places strictly protected from the harmful effects of tobacco.
It is impossible to educate students about the harms of tobacco and take care of patients on the one hand, but on the other hand, let tobacco be publicly sold right near school gates and hospital gates.
For children, regularly seeing cigarettes at water stalls and grocery stores on the way to school can also create a mentality of considering them as a normal consumer item.
The fact that tobacco is sold publicly and easily accessible can increase the risk of children being exposed and form misconceptions about tobacco use.
In fact, the regulation on not selling cigarettes within a 100m radius is not entirely new.
Because current law has stipulated that cigarettes are not allowed to be sold outside the gates of nurseries, kindergartens, general schools and many types of medical facilities within a radius of 100m.
This draft law generalizes it to "educational institutions, medical facilities", helping to regulate more concisely and can be more comprehensively covered.
It is worth mentioning that after many years of law taking effect, in many places, cigarettes are still sold quite commonly in water stalls, grocery stores around schools and hospitals.
This reality shows that the biggest problem is not only in the law regulating the radius of how many meters, but also in who inspects and handles violations.
If the law continues to stipulate a 100m no-go zone but does not clearly define the responsibilities of local authorities, health agencies, market management and local management units, it will be very difficult to create a change.
Another issue is that the ban on selling cigarettes through social networks, e-commerce platforms and digital platforms as proposed in the draft law also needs to be accompanied by effective implementation solutions.
If cigarette sales in the online environment are not effectively controlled, the goal of limiting students' access to cigarettes will be difficult to achieve.
Similarly, checking ID cards, VNeID or passports for people suspected of being under 18 years old must also be carried out in practice, and cannot just stop at the sign "do not sell cigarettes to people under 18 years old".
The ultimate goal of amending the law is to reduce access to tobacco, especially for children, students and patients.
To do so, regulations on a scope of 100m around schools and medical facilities need to be accompanied by a specific monitoring mechanism, clear management responsibilities and serious violation handling. Then, the distance on paper will become a real protective barrier for children and patients.
