New Zealand’s hard fist against smoking: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s government has passed one of the strictest laws in the world, which will ban people up to 14 today (all those born after 2008) from buying cigarettes throughout the year. their life. Every year the age limit will be raised, until smoking is illegal for the whole nation. The decision was taken with the aim of making the country, which has about 5 million inhabitants, “smoke-free” by 2025.
“We want to ensure that young people never start smoking, so we have launched an offensive against those who sell or supply tobacco to young people,” said Ayesha Verrall, Minister for Food Safety and Associate Minister for Health.
New Zealand thus becomes the country where the tobacco industry has the greatest restrictions, after Bhutan where the sale of cigarettes is prohibited. The minister also announced a tightening on the number of premises authorized for the sale of tobacco. These are measures, he added, that will allow New Zealand to maintain its role as a world leader in tobacco control.
How the rule will be applied
There will be penalties for those who break the rules, but these will affect the sellers, not the people trying to buy tobacco. New Zealand officials do not yet know the possible size of the tobacco black market and from March next year, when the new rules begin to go into effect, they will study countermeasures to minimize its occurrence. Part of the action plan also includes a consultative task force which also provides for the participation of the Maori population.