New Zealand BANS smoking: Radical new laws will stop young people from EVER buying cigarettes as nation goes ‘smoke-free’ – so is Australia set to follow?
New Zealand is banning young people from ever being allowed to buy cigarettes in a rolling program that aims to make the entire country smoke-free by 2025.
No-one under the age of 14 will ever be allowed to buy cigarettes in their lifetime in a desperate bid to eradicate smoking from the country.
Each year the legal smoking age will be increased, with a new age group added to the ban list until the country is completely smoke-free.
The new legislation was announced on Thursday, with New Zealand’s associate health minister, Ayesha Verrall, branding it a “historic day for the health of our people”.
The move comes as a new poll reveals most Australians want a total ban on all cigarette sales in shops. The age group plan is part of a wider strategy with strict limits on smoking and vaping areas, bans on tobacco advertising and sponsorships, and uniform packaging.
Australia has taken similar steps in curbing cigarette smoking and led the world with its plain packaging and shocking warnings.
But a new poll published by the Medical Journal of Australia last month has now backed a total ban on cigarette sales as the next step in the war on smoking.
Almost 53 per cent surveyed supported phasing out all cigarette sales in retail outlets.
The national target is to have just five per cent or less of the New Zealand population still smoking by 2025.
As part of the strategy, cigarette prices have increased by 10 per cent every year for the 10 years between 2011 and 2020, but no further tax hikes are now proposed.
The price hike has seen the creation of a black market for cigarettes and there has also been a spike in crime with groups targeting stores selling cigarettes.
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