THE SQUIZ

New Zealand’s Government has laid out a plan to ban young people from ever being able to buy cigarettes in an attempt to make the country smoke-free. And by smoke-free, they mean just 5% of the population would be smoking by 2025. That would mean halving the current smoking rate and drastically reducing numbers in the Maori population. New laws would make it illegal to sell or supply tobacco products to children aged 14yo or younger from 2023. The Kiwi Government will also mandate less nicotine in tobacco products, theoretically making them less addictive.

HOW ARE THEY GOING TO DO IT?

The age ban on tobacco sales would rise every year, meaning those aged 14yo and younger in 2023 will never be able to buy ciggies legally. And the number of retailers allowed to sell smokes will be slashed from 8,000 to 500. At this stage, the government has no plans to compensate local store owners for lost sales, but there’s a long way to go before the legislation is introduced in June next year. Smoking rates in NZ are dropping, but not amongst the Maori and Pasifika communities, who on average live about 8 years less than non-Maori people, with a quarter of that attributed to smoking. So a lot of effort will need to go into supporting those communities, experts say. The right-wing minor party ACT New Zealand slammed the move as “prohibition” which will promote a black market for tobacco. But public health experts are celebrating the world’s first move.

SO WHERE’S OZ AT?

Australia has been a world leader in tobacco control via laws that ban smoking in public areas and introducing plain-packaging on cigarette packets with graphic health warnings. But public health experts are now lobbying the Federal Government to set a date for banning the sale of tobacco by supermarkets (like the Netherlands) and kicking its addiction to the revenue from tobacco-related taxes. Note: smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease in Oz, and about 24,000 people die from smoking-related illnesses each year. Queensland Uni’s Associate Professor Coral Gartner says New Zealand’s policies are innovative and “make Australia look like we’re lagging behind.” Thems fightin’ words…