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It would have been a world first, but New Zealand has repealed a law that would have made it illegal for anyone born after 1 January 2009 to buy tobacco products.

The proposed law would effectively raise the legal age for buying cigarettes by one year every year, until it applies to the whole population. The legislation would also have cut nicotine content in tobacco products and reduced the number of retailers by more than 90%.

The shift in attitude follows a new coalition agreement reached six weeks after the Kiwi general election last year. The election saw the country turn to the right, with the Conservative National Party winning and ending a six-year Labour government.

The government’s associate health minister Casey Costello said the coalition is committed to reducing smoking, but it is taking a different regulatory approach to discourage the habit and reduce harm caused. Sounds like the conservatives are scared of young voters.

The reversal of the decision has been criticised for ‘perpetuating inequality in health in the Maori and Pasifika communities’, both of which have higher smoking rates.

“This repeal contradicts solid research evidence and ignores measures strongly supported by Maori leaders,” said Otago University researcher Janet Hoek.

“Large-scale clinical trials and modelling studies show that the legislation would have rapidly increased the rates of quitting among smokers and made it much harder for young people to take up smoking,” said Ms Hoek, co-director of a group researching strategies to reduce smoking.

The UK government is also dabbling with similar legislation, but Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says that New Zealand’s u-turn doesn’t affect his plans to get the kids off fruity vapes.

We’re sure pressure from tobacco lobbyists had nothing to do with it.

[source:sky]