New Zealand is looking at the proposal to ban the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products to anyone born after 2004, making smoking effectively illegal for an entire generation. The country’s move is a part of the plan to make the nation ‘smoke-free’ by 2025.

They include a reduction in the level of nicotine allowed in tobacco products, prohibiting filters, setting a minimum price for tobacco, and restricting the locations where tobacco and cigarettes can be sold.

In a consultation document, the government said: “A smoke-free generation policy would prohibit the sale, and the supply in a public place, of smoked tobacco products to new cohorts from a specified date.

For example, if legislation commenced on January 1st 2022, then people younger than 18 years at that time or those born after 1 January 2004 would never be able to lawfully be sold smoked tobacco products. This option would grandfather existing smokers, but the supply of new smokers would cease. This would effectively phase out the legal sale of smoked tobacco products over many years.

Associate Minister of Health Dr. Ayesha Verrall says a “new approach” is needed if the nation wants to reach its goal. She adds that the “best way” to achieve a “smoke-free future” is to prevent people from ever starting to smoke.

“Over 75 per cent of smokers have tried to quit but smoking is primarily driven by addiction. This makes quitting extremely difficult even though most smokers want to do so,” explained Dr Verrall.

10 years ago we set a goal to become a smokefree nation by 2025. Tobacco sales nearly halved in that time, but smoking still causes up to 5,000 deaths a year. I’ve released a set of proposals that change the environment and treat smoking as an addiction. https://t.co/xPNGC9LJQg
— Ayesha Verrall (@drayeshaverrall) April 15, 2021