WELLINGTON, New Zealand: On Tuesday, New Zealand passed a law to phase out tobacco smoking by imposing a lifetime ban on young people buying cigarettes.
According to the new law, the tobacco can’t ever be sold to anybody born on or after January 1, 2009.
The Health authorities of the country have set a goal to make New Zealand smoke-free by 2025, international media reported.
The new law also reduces the number of retailers allowed to sell tobacco from about 6,000 to 600 and decreases the amount of nicotine allowed in tobacco that is smoked, Time Magazine reported.
The report quoting Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall, who was addressing the lawmakers in Parliament, said, “There is no good reason to allow a product to be sold that kills half the people that use it.”
“And I can tell you that we will end this in the future, as we pass this legislation,” the minister added.
By imposing the ban, Dr Ayesha Verrall said the health system would save billions of dollars from not needing to treat illnesses caused by smoking. She named the illnesses including cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and amputations often caused by the smoking.
