A law was passed in New Zealand phase obliterate tobacco smoking by imposing a lifetime ban on young people buying cigarettes. The law states that tobacco can’t ever be sold to anybody born on or after Jan. 1, 2009.
This means that the minimum age for buying cigarettes will go higher and higher. Authorities hope smoking will disappear before that happens. They have a stated goal of making New Zealand smoke-free by 2025.
The new law also reduces the number of retailers from about 6,000 to 600 and reduces the nicotine content in tobacco that is smoked.
“There is no good reason to allow a product to be sold that kills half the people that use it,” Associate Minister of Health Dr. Ayesha Verrall told lawmakers in Parliament. “And I can tell you that we will end this in the future, as we pass this legislation.
Dr. Ayesha said that billions of dollars will be saved from 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 vote was done along party lines in passing the legislation 76 to 43.
The libertarian ACT party opposed the bill and stated that many small corner stores, known in New Zealand as dairies, would run aground because they would be unable to sell cigarettes.
“We stand opposed to this bill because it’s a bad bill and its bad policy, it’s that straightforward and simple,” said Brooke van Velden, ACT’s deputy leader. “There won’t be better outcomes for New Zealanders.”
She retorted that the ban amounted to “nanny-state prohibition” that would create a large black market. She said prohibition never worked and always ended with unintended consequences. The law, however, does not affect vaping, which has already become more popular than smoking in New Zealand.
Statistics New Zealand reported last month that 8% of New Zealand adults smoked daily, down from 16% ten years ago. Meanwhile, 8.3% of adults vaped daily, up from less than 1% six years ago. Indigenous Māori people are the highest smokers, with about 20% reporting they smoked.
New Zealand already restricts cigarette sales to those aged 18 and over, requires tobacco packs to come with graphic health warnings and cigarettes to be sold in standardized packs.
Several health agencies embraced the new law, particularly Health Coalition Aotearoa which stated that the new law represents the culmination of decades of hard-fought advocacy by health institutions.
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