New Zealand plans to eventually ban cigarette sales for the next generation
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New Zealand just unveiled a radical plan to wipe out smoking entirely by preventing today’s young people from ever legally purchasing a packet of cigarettes.
The move to outlaw smoking is part of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Smokefree 2025 action plan. Photo credit: Mark Mitchell/Getty Images.
The proposed legislation is expected to become law next year. However, current smokers would still be free to continue buying cigarettes.
But the plan is to gradually raise the smoking age, year by year, until it covers the entire population, a significant step to get its smoking population to under five per cent by 2025.
New Zealanders aged 14 or under will never be able to pick up smoking and legally buy cigarettes in the country, even as adults.
New Zealand’s associate health minister, Ayesha Verrall, announced the new legislation on Thursday, calling it a “historic day for the health of our people”.
“We want to make sure young people never start smoking so we will make it an offence to sell or supply smoked tobacco products to new cohorts of youth. People aged 14 when the law comes into effect will never be able to legally purchase tobacco,” said Dr Verrall.
“We are also reducing the appeal, addictiveness, and availability of smoked tobacco products.”
“While smoking rates are heading in the right direction, we need to do more, faster to reach our goal,” she added.
“If nothing changes, it would be decades before Maori smoking rates fall below five per cent, and this government is not prepared to leave anyone behind.”
Along with the ban, the government also plans to issue a licence to sell cigarettes legally, a move that would restrict the number of stores to just 500 nationwide.
According to Dr Verrall, retailers will be given time to transition before the law comes into effect.
“New laws will mean only smoked tobacco products containing very low levels of nicotine can be sold, with a significant reduction in the number of shops who can sell them,” she said.
Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of premature death and disability in Australia, estimated to have killed 1.28 million Australians between 1960 and 2020. Photo credit: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images.
Meanwhile, in the Land Down Under, public health experts called on Australia’s state and territory governments to set an end date for the sale of cigarettes.
Researchers from the University of Queensland stated that anti-smoking measures such as plain-packaging laws and health warnings were no longer enough; the Australian government needs to address the root cause, which is the supply side of tobacco consumption.
The researchers added that cigarettes should not even be available in Australian public supermarkets.
“Despite tobacco’s legal status, it fails to meet consumer safety standards,” wrote the authors.
“Consumer and drug regulatory systems would prohibit the sale of cigarettes as a new consumer product today.”
“Governments should set target end dates for tobacco sales and support retailers to transition to a smoke‐free society.”
According to the lead author of the article and tobacco health expert Coral Gartner, the country’s local governments were falling behind the general public in actions against smoking.
“Most international governments, including Australia, are lagging behind the significant public support for ending tobacco retailing,” said Dr Gartner.
“Research shows half of all adults in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, England and Hong Kong want tobacco sales phased out.”
In recent survey results published in the MJA on Monday, it was found that more than half of respondents to a Victorian Cancer Council questionnaire were in favour of phasing out the sale of cigarettes in retail outlets.
What do you think? Should Australia follow New Zealand's lead and move to ban smoking?
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