UK Prime Minister the age at which people can buy cigarettes and tobacco in England will rise from 18 every year,so that a child aged 14 today would never be allowed to legally buy tobacco. The idea was first put forward by a government-commissioned review in 2022 which it said,if adopted,could see some 1.7 million fewer people smoking by 2075. Sunak also promised to introduce measures to restrict the availability of vapes to children.
Tough new laws aimed at stubbing out smoking and vaping have been unveiled by the government.
Such commonsense reforms will result in thousands living longer and save the National Health Service billions of pounds courtesy of not having to treat the illnesses caused by smoking,such as numerous types of cancer,heart attacks,strokes,amputations.
If passed,England would become the first country in Europe to,which announced a similar plan last year to ban people who were,from purchasing cigarettes from 2027,as well as curbing the number of retailers authorised to sell tobacco and cutting nicotine levels in all products. Denmark is already considering a similar move,and a number of nations also have targets to reduce smoking to minimal levels in the relatively near future.
Just as the New Zealand ban caused howls of fury,Sunak’s proposals have seen claim they amounted to a “disproportionate attack” on adults’ rights,would devastate the industry and fuel the black market trade. Some of these same arguments have been around since the early 1960s when the UK Royal College of Physicians and the linked lung cancer to tobacco and demanded action from government.
Only Bhutan and South Africa have banned smoking in the past,but New Zealand aside,the Sunak government move to protect the children of the future from smoking is truly significant because it is the first time that a major world player has attempted such a generational changing reform. That said,if the British parliament approves the proposal,the legal change would only apply in England – not in Northern Ireland,Scotland and Wales,whose own assemblies have devolved powers to control their own health policies.
Australia had been a world leader in tackling Big Tobacco and the scourge of smoking. It was banned from Commonwealth buildings and then domestic flights in 1987;now plain paper wrapping and graphic health warnings on cigarette packs make cigarette brands less attractive. Australian tobacco taxes – thought to be a financial deterrent – are among the highest in the world,and there are bans on smoking in most public places.
But the Albanese government has no plans to follow the New Zealand and English attempts to phase out smoking for future generations
Health Minister Mark Butler said the UK and New Zealand had responded to the specific tactics of Big Tobacco marketed to their populations,and Canberra would monitor their implementation success with interest,but the government would stick with its own tobacco legislation introduced in September. If passed,it will take effect from April and includes hiking taxes and standardising cigarette packaging,and will run parallel with vaping reforms.
Protecting future generations against harm is a no-brainer. This kind of reform does not come from activist campaigners or academic advocates but governments in England and New Zealand that have been in the vanguard of nations tackling smoking. It is happening now and the Albanese government should move quickly to be part of it.
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