In a series of proposals known as Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan, New Zealand is trying to eliminate smoking. To be even more specific: he is trying to eliminate the sale of tobacco for the entire country.
Does it seem to you that it is really a proximate and radical measure? Me too. To them too! For this there are several roadmaps that will lead to the ban on smoking. Current forecasts are to foreclose the sale of cigarettes a anyone born after 2004. A series of intermediate measures, however, will first and foremost aim to gradually increase the legal smoking age. At the same time, New Zealand will progressively reduce the amount of nicotine allowed in tobacco products cigarettes and will set a higher minimum price for all smoking items.
The New Zealand coup de grace to smoking
The country's health ministry explained that although smoking rates have declined over the past decade, "there is still much work to be done." In particular, we still need to reduce tobacco use among "Maori, Pacific peoples and those living in our most disadvantaged communities".
The plan was officially released last Thursday and citizens were asked to "provide feedback" until May 31, 2022 before the proposals progress to the next step and are then signed into law.
According to the Associate Minister of Health Ayesha Verrall, around 4.500 New Zealanders die every year from tobacco-related illnesses, and the government is committed to "accelerated progress" in the fight against smoking.
We need a new approach… without a tobacco control program we will not reach our goal.
Ayesha Verrall
There are those who protest
The initiative, while apparently noble in its cause, is not without its critics. Some argue that the lack of tobacco sales would put store owners out of business. Others worry about the creation of a black market for smoking and tobacco products. The government also acknowledged that tobacco smuggling has “increased substantially” in recent years.
