Aims to end smoking in the country

New Zealand enacts law to gradually raise the age of people who can buy tobacco

• New Zealand bans smoking forever for those 14 or younger.

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• New Zealand has increased taxes on tobacco as an anti-smoking move.

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The New Zealand government has unveiled a unique plan to end smoking in the country by raising the minimum age annually for those who are allowed to buy tobacco.

This means, in theory, that 65 years after this law was passed, anyone wanting to buy tobacco would have to prove they are 80 years old.

Practically speaking, officials hope that smoking will end decades before that.

Accordingly, this law, which will be passed next year, will impose an eternal ban on the purchase of tobacco for those aged 14 or under, subject to raising this minimum the following year, and so on.

In the short term, the government seeks to reduce the proportion of smokers to less than 5% of the population by 2025.

Other aspects of the plan are to only allow the sale of tobacco products that contain very low levels of nicotine and to reduce the number of stores that sell these products.

The reduction will be in stores over time to help retailers adapt to this situation.

New Zealand Health Minister Dr Aisha Feral, who is leading the plan, says her work at Wellington General Hospital has enabled her to see the negative effects of smoking up close.

"Every day we meet someone who faces the misery caused by tobacco," she explains.

Smoking rates have been steadily declining in New Zealand for years, with only 11% of adults smoking overall, and only 9% of the population smoking each day.

The daily rate among the indigenous Maori population remains the highest in the country, accounting for 22% of New Zealand's smokers.

Under the government's plan, a task force will be set up to help reduce smoking among Maori.

raise taxes

Significant increases in cigarette taxes have already been imposed in recent years, and some wonder why they are not being raised even higher.

"We don't think the tax increases will have any other effect," Dr. Feral explains. "It's really hard to quit smoking, and we feel that if we did, we would punish more cigarette addicts."

She said the tax measures put a greater burden on low-income people, who are more likely to smoke.

The new law will not affect e-cigarettes (vaping).

Vaping products will only be sold to people over the age of 18, and vaping is prohibited in schools.

"There is some evidence of a higher rate of vaping for young people, which is a trend we are watching closely," says Dr. Feral.

She said New Zealand's approach to banning the next generation of tobacco smoking has not been adopted anywhere else in the world.

She emphasized that studies showed a decrease in the rate of young people buying tobacco when the minimum age was raised.

In the United States, the federal minimum age for purchasing tobacco products was raised from 18 to 21 two years ago.

While public health experts have generally welcomed the New Zealand plan, some residents are not happy, with tobacco retailer Sunny Kaushal saying some stores may stop operating entirely.

Kaushal chairs the Business Owners and Dairy Group, which includes nearly 5,000 retail stores.

"We all want a smoke-free New Zealand, but this will have a huge impact on small businesses," he added.

Kaushal also said that the tobacco tax increases have already created a black market that has been exploited by some vulnerable people, and the problem will only get worse.

He stressed that smoking has already begun to decline in New Zealand and will disappear on its own.

• Tobacco tax increases have already created a black market that has been exploited by some weak-minded people, and the problem will only get worse.

• Only 11% of adults in New Zealand smoke overall, and only 9% of the population smoke each day.

• New Zealand's approach to banning the next generation of tobacco smoking has not been adopted anywhere else in the world.

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