A new law was recently passed by New Zealand to phase out tobacco use in the country on Tuesday, prohibiting young people from ever purchasing cigarettes. Health officials expect that smoking will vanish soon due to the recent legislation. By 2025, the government intends to make New Zealand a smoke-free country.
Other Measures
The recent law passed includes other measures, the goal of which is to make accessibility of tobacco harder. According to the law tobacco can never be sold to anyone who was born on or after January 1, 2009. The law, once implemented, will decrease the amount of cigarettes stores can sell, from 6000 to just 600 in the entire country. “Health system will be $5 billion better off from not needing to treat the illnesses caused by smoking,” Ayesha Verrall, Associate health minister, said.
Vapes Are Excluded
The new law will not put restrictions on vape sales. That’s due to the positive attitude of smokers turning to vaping which is substantially less harmful than smoking.
