New Zealand is going to ban tobacco
Dec 10, 2021 13:06:59 GMT -5
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Post by simnettpratt on Dec 10, 2021 13:06:59 GMT -5
Plans to effectively eliminate smoking in New Zealand over the next four years have now been finalized, New Zealand Associate Health Minister Ayesha Verrall told reporters on December 9.
“We want to make sure young people never start smoking, so we will make it an offense to sell or supply smoke tobacco products to new cohorts of young people,” she said.
The policy is part of a “Smokefree 2025” bill that is expected to breeze through New Zealand’s legislative process in 2022. If it passes as expected, people in New Zealand age 14 years and younger at the time will never be able to legally purchase tobacco in the country. The public health plan will increase the legal age for purchasing tobacco products in New Zealand each year over the next four years to eventually create a “smokefree generation” of New Zealanders, Verrall said on December 9.
Roughly 8,000 New Zealand retailers currently sell tobacco products. The “Smokefree 2025” legislation would aim to reduce this figure “to about 500 under the new rules – meaning 7,500 will have to transition to a new business model,” Verrall said Thursday.
“Dairy owners facing loss of income after losing tobacco sales won’t be compensated,” she added. Verrall referred to small dairy shops in New Zealand, or “dairies,” which traditionally sell tobacco products in addition to milk and other goods.
“Dairies will go out of business,” Sunny Kaushal, an advocate for New Zealand dairies, told Stuff in April when the “Smokefree 2025” bill was first proposed to the public.
“If the revenue is gone, how can they survive? We urge the Government to review this proposal and not take a hasty decision which could impact so heavily on small businesses,” he said.
“We want to make sure young people never start smoking, so we will make it an offense to sell or supply smoke tobacco products to new cohorts of young people,” she said.
The policy is part of a “Smokefree 2025” bill that is expected to breeze through New Zealand’s legislative process in 2022. If it passes as expected, people in New Zealand age 14 years and younger at the time will never be able to legally purchase tobacco in the country. The public health plan will increase the legal age for purchasing tobacco products in New Zealand each year over the next four years to eventually create a “smokefree generation” of New Zealanders, Verrall said on December 9.
Roughly 8,000 New Zealand retailers currently sell tobacco products. The “Smokefree 2025” legislation would aim to reduce this figure “to about 500 under the new rules – meaning 7,500 will have to transition to a new business model,” Verrall said Thursday.
“Dairy owners facing loss of income after losing tobacco sales won’t be compensated,” she added. Verrall referred to small dairy shops in New Zealand, or “dairies,” which traditionally sell tobacco products in addition to milk and other goods.
“Dairies will go out of business,” Sunny Kaushal, an advocate for New Zealand dairies, told Stuff in April when the “Smokefree 2025” bill was first proposed to the public.
“If the revenue is gone, how can they survive? We urge the Government to review this proposal and not take a hasty decision which could impact so heavily on small businesses,” he said.
