New Zealand bans cigarettes for future generations

• The new ban is a part of the New Zealand government’s push to make the country “smoke-free” by 2025
• NZ’s ACT Party said the ban would create a large black market
• The number of adults New Zealand smokers fell by half over the past decade 

New Zealand: Future generations of New Zealanders have been banned from purchasing tobacco as part of a package of new anti-smoking laws that have passed the nation’s parliament.

The suite of new laws, which are among the strictest in the world, include bans on selling tobacco to anyone born on or after January 1, 2009, punishable by fines up to NZ$150,000 (AED520,640).

The ban will remain in place for a person’s whole life.

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The legislation will also reduce the amount of nicotine allowed in smoked tobacco products and cut the number of retailers able to sell tobacco by 90 per cent. 

Retailers licensed to sell tobacco will be cut from 6,000 to 600 by the end of 2023.

“There is no good reason to allow a product to be sold that kills half the people that use it,” Associate Minister of Health Ayesha Verrall said in parliament.

“And I can tell you that we will end this in the future, as we pass this legislation.”

She said the health system would save billions of dollars by not needing to treat illnesses caused by smoking, such as cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and amputations.

She said the bill would create generational change and leave a legacy of better health for youth.

The libertarian ACT Party, which opposed the bill, said many small corner stores, known in New Zealand as dairies, would go out of business because they would no longer be able to sell cigarettes.

“We stand opposed to this bill because it’s a bad bill and it’s bad policy. It’s that straightforward and simple,” ACT Party deputy leader Brooke van Velden said.

“There won’t be better outcomes for New Zealanders.”

She said the gradual ban amounted to “nanny-state prohibition” that would end up creating a large black market.

She said prohibition never worked and always ended with unintended consequences. New Zealand

The law does not affect vaping, which has already become more popular than smoking in New Zealand. 

Source: Agencies

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