New Zealand made a bold move to end deaths from tobacco in their country by enacting legislation that bans young people from ever buying cigarettes in their lifetime.
Arguing that current measures aren’t working, the new law will mean that people currently aged 14 and under will never be able to legally purchase tobacco. The new legislation increases the legal smoking age every year, to create a ‘smoke-free generation of New Zealanders.’
“We want to make sure young people never start smoking so we will make it an offense to sell or supply smoked tobacco products to new cohorts of youth,” New Zealand Associate Minister of Health Ayesha Verrall said in a statement.
“If nothing changes, it would be decades till Māori smoking rates fall below 5%, and this government is not prepared to leave people behind.”
With four in five smokers starting before age 18 in New Zealand, this plan could work.
Once again, New Zealand leads the way.