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This Entire Country Has Just Banned Smoking

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Turkmenistan has effectively outlawed smoking (Pexel)

There are smoking bans… and then there’s Turkmenistan.

The central Asian country has effectively banned smoking after a new decree banned the sale of all tobacco products.

Anybody selling cigarettes now faces a fine of £1,200.

The ban has pushed up the cost of black market cigarettes to £8 a packet.

Announcing the ban, the government also showed thousands of cigarettes being incinerated on state-run TV.

It comes into force as Turkmenistan is ruled by an authoritarian health-conscious former dentist as president, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedow.

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Cigarettes now cost as much as £8 on the black market (Pexels)

Previously, Berdymukhamedow announced there would be a national bike race and citizens were ordered to buy bikes to take part. Those who did not ran the risk of redundancy, it was claimed.

A compulsory week-long calisthenics exercise programme has also been promoted by his government.

And like North Korean leaders, the Turkmenistani leader has had success in the sporting field

In 2013, Berdymukhamedow, then 56, won his country’s most prestigious horse race. He won the race again in 2014.