New Zealand authorities have passed a historic anti-smoking bill in Parliament on Tuesday, ultimately banning the sale of tobacco to anyone born on or after January 1, 2009. File picture: Christian Hartmann/Reuters
New Zealand authorities passed a historic anti-smoking bill in Parliament on Tuesday, ultimately banning the sale of tobacco to anyone born on or after January 1, 2009.
According to lawmakers, the ban is aimed at preventing future generations from taking up smoking and is part of a wider government push to make the country “smoke free” by 2025.
It’s rather expensive to smoke in New Zealand, due to the high government taxes on tobacco products. The move is aimed at discouraging people from smoking.
According to the New Zealand health department, 8.0% of adults were daily smokers in 2021/22, down from 9.4% the previous year and 16.4% in 2011/12.
Smoking rates have declined for all ethnic groups except Pacific people, but large inequities remain. For example, daily smoking rates were as follows: Māori (19.9%), Pacific (18.2%), and European/Other (7.2%).
The health ministry says that the most marked inequities in smoking are by socio-economic status. After adjusting for demographic differences, adults living in the most deprived areas are 4.3 times more likely to smoke daily than adults living in the least deprived areas.
Yesterday, multinational company, British American Tobacco, threatened legal action against the New Zealand government over a review of that country’s vaping products, which could result in more than 2 000 substances being taken off shelves, the New Zealand Herald reported.
That’s according to a letter, seen by Newstalk ZB, addressed to newly appointed director-general of health Dr Diana Sarfarti, the New Zealand publication reported.
According to the report, the letter showed that New Zealand law firm Bell Gully had advised the Ministry of Health that it would appear for BAT (British American Tobacco) in the case of a legal challenge.
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