ALARM: Unidentified Chewing Products Mimicking Drugs Sold in Armenian Supermarkets

The Minister of Health, Arsen Torosyan, made a post on his Facebook page, informing about a very important incident and urging to keep children away from tobacco products:
“Keep children away from these tobacco products. Today I received an alarming message from the principal of my children's school, who reported that one of the students felt suddenly unwell during class, and it was determined that this occurred due to the use of chewing tobacco, known as snus, as a large dose of nicotine enters the child's body through the gums while chewing.
Pay attention to where these products are displayed in stores – in places that are easily accessible and attractive to children, near candy. This is not coincidental. And when we prohibit the display of any tobacco products with our new legislation, some of our colleagues in the National Assembly provide different arguments as to why this is wrong. I have said and I will say again that this is the most crucial measure to keep this highly harmful product away from children.
By the way, even under the current law, the sale of any tobacco products to individuals under 18 is prohibited, and we will address this specifically with selling stores,” wrote the minister.
Auroranews.am received information about snus months ago directly from consumers and attempted to clarify through which channels and by whose efforts it is imported to Armenia and appears in supermarkets.
We established contacts with various authorities responsible for monitoring the legality of imports, but none were able to provide any information about it. It felt as if snus had fallen from the sky, and more so, everyone appeared to be surprised, as if it was the first time they heard such a thing exists. By the way, we also contacted the press secretary of the Minister of Health regarding this issue, informed them about the danger, and requested any clarification regarding the aforementioned. However, the raised issue did not seem to concern anyone, any organization, or any authority. Auroranews.am had informed the ministry about this matter months ago and pointed out that a drug that is prohibited even in European countries, where various similar products are sold legally, is being sold here under the name of chewing tobacco.