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New Zealand's smoke free generation - 9th January 2023

New Zealand has moved ahead outlawing tobacco sale for anyone born after 1 January 2009 in a bid to create a smoke-free generation. The move is the first made by any nation and has polarised public opinions.

Backers defend the new regulations stating that not only will these measures mitigate addiction and lung cancer death rates but will also see government expenditure on treatments of tobacco related ailments plummet. New Zealand's associate health minister Ayesha Verrall stated, 'Thousands of people will live longer, healthier lives and the health system will be 5 billion New Zealand dollars better off.'

Accompanying the law are new restrictions on the nicotine tobacco content in products and accessibility, forcing them to be sold only by 600 specialist tobacco stores nationwide, down from 6,000, rather than supermarkets and convenience shops.

With an already low smoking population, New Zealand has experienced a significant drop from 2021's 9.4 percent to a current 8 percent. However, the nation's Maori community still sees higher rates of smokers, some 19.9 percent. Nevertheless, the government remains resolute in their attempt to plummet the country's cumulative smoking rate to 5 percent by 2025.

Meanwhile, vaping has been left unscathed by the slew of new regulations. Current vaping rates jumped by 2.1 percent in the previous year and is particularly popular amongst young adults.

There are mounting fears that the new measures will give birth to a black market trade such as illegal trafficking of tobacco. As one convenience store lobbyist, Sunny Kaushal highlights, 'there's going to be a crime wave. Gangs and criminals will fill the gap.'

However, health minister Verrall has come to the defence of the legislation and slammed tobacco companies for maintaining their market share of deadly and addictive products. It 'is disgusting…We have more regulations…on the safety of the sale of a sandwich than on a cigarette.'