Minors are the hope of the country, the future of the nation, and the focus of social care and protection. The government pays great attention to the healthy growth of minors. In recent years, the state has issued many relevant laws, regulations and policies to protect minors from smoking.

The newly revised "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors" will be officially promulgated and implemented from June 1, 2021, which protects and safeguards the health and legitimate rights and interests of minors in accordance with the law. Among them, Article 59 stipulates: Schools and kindergartens shall not set up sales outlets for tobacco, alcohol and lottery tickets. It is prohibited to sell cigarettes, alcohol, lottery tickets or pay lottery winnings to minors. Tobacco, alcohol and lottery operators shall set up signs in conspicuous positions that they do not sell tobacco, alcohol or lottery tickets to minors; if it is difficult to tell whether they are minors, they shall be required to show their identity documents. Article 123 clarifies that if the relevant operators violate the first paragraph of Article 59, the departments of culture and tourism, market supervision and management, tobacco monopoly, public security and other departments shall order rectification within a time limit according to the division of responsibilities, give warnings, and confiscate illegally. A fine of not more than 50,000 yuan may be imposed concurrently on the income obtained; if corrections are refused or the circumstances are serious, an order to suspend business for rectification or revocation of business licenses and relevant permits may be imposed concurrently, and a fine of not less than 50,000 yuan but not more than 500,000 yuan may be imposed concurrently.

If in the past, law enforcement lacked the necessary regulatory basis, and the legal provisions did not clarify the legal responsibilities of the parties, then the newly revised "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors" has filled this "shortcoming" and allowed law enforcement to have Law can follow. The creation of legal provisions from scratch is the continuous deepening of understanding, which reflects the continuous strengthening of the state's protection of minors.

In recent years, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration has successively cooperated with several departments to carry out special actions to clean up and rectify the sale of cigarettes to minors and severely crack down on illegal electronic cigarettes across the country. On October 30, 2019, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly issued the "Notice on Further Protecting Minors from Electronic Cigarettes"; on June 15, 2021, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, the State Market Supervision and Administration The General Administration jointly launched a special action to protect minors from smoking; on March 11 this year, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration issued the "Measures for the Administration of Electronic Cigarettes", which included electronic cigarettes in the scope of supervision of the tobacco department and provided for minors The healthy growth of the industry is escorted; all units in the industry take the initiative to connect with local TV stations, radio stations, and newspapers to create a good public opinion environment and social atmosphere. These series of pragmatic measures show the determination of the tobacco industry to supervise according to law, release a clear signal to protect the legitimate rights and interests of minors, and create a good law enforcement environment for protecting minors from smoking.

To protect the healthy growth of minors, on the one hand, it is inseparable from the support of laws and regulations, and on the other hand, it is also inseparable from the active follow-up of the monopoly law enforcement work by the tobacco industry.

The first is to do a good job of popularizing the law. Units at all levels in the industry have carried out legal publicity in a popular form to raise the awareness of retailers not to sell cigarettes to minors; posted the "Notice on Further Protecting Minors from Electronic Cigarettes" around primary and secondary schools and kindergartens. The slogan "Selling cigarettes to minors is strictly prohibited" is posted in the cigarette retailer's store to guide the retailer to actively refuse the purchase of cigarettes by minors and operate in accordance with the law. In addition, tobacco-related departments have also actively organized legal education into schools and classrooms, and used vivid cases to explain the harm of electronic cigarettes and "top cigarettes" to primary and secondary school students, so as to build a smoke-free defense line for the healthy growth of minors.

The second is to grasp the threshold of retail license access. Taking Guangdong Province as an example, the Civilization Office of Guangdong Province recently issued the "Notice on Clarifying the Requirements and Measurement Methods for the Distance between Schools, Kindergartens and Related Business Sites", which clearly requires that schools and kindergartens must not have tobacco sales outlets within 50 meters. Tobacco monopoly bureaus in various cities require that primary and secondary schools and kindergartens are not allowed to issue new tobacco monopoly retail licenses, and publicize and divert existing cigarette retail customers to quit, and will not renew tobacco monopoly retail licenses when they expire.

The third is to strengthen market supervision. To protect minors from smoking, it is still necessary to continuously strengthen supervision, unblock the supervision hotline, improve the efficiency of handling complaints, strengthen communication and cooperation with market supervision and other departments, and increase market inspections. The People's Protection Law severely cracks down on the illegal act of selling cigarettes to minors, so as to form a deterrent.

All in all, protecting the growth of minors is the common responsibility of the whole society. Only by working together and forming a joint force can we create a "smoke-free pure land" and escort the healthy growth of minors.