The number of vendors authorized to sell tobacco products will also be reduced from 6,000 to 600 nationwide.
A radical way to fight against smoking. New Zealand will gradually implement a near-total tobacco ban from 2023 by preventing anyone born after 2008 from buying cigarettes indefinitely, as well as reducing the amount of nicotine in products available to the sale.
“Towards a tobacco-free future”
According to the text adopted Tuesday by the Parliament and intended to reduce the number of people consuming tobacco products, the legal age to be able to smoke will be raised each year.
The provisions are a step “towards a tobacco-free future”, according to Minister Ayesha Verrall, who was the driving force behind the legislation.
“Thousands of people will live longer and healthier lives, and the healthcare system will benefit from 5 billion New Zealand dollars (3 billion euros) by not having to treat diseases caused by smoking, such as many types of cancers, heart attacks, strokes and amputations,” she said.
10 times fewer sellers
The rate of adult smokers is already relatively low in New Zealand, where it reaches 8%. The text adopted on Tuesday and named “Tobacco-free environments” is intended to reduce this rate to less than 5% by 2025.
The number of vendors authorized to sell tobacco products will be reduced to 600, a considerable reduction from the 6,000 in the country today. The amount of nicotine will also be “reduced to non-addictive levels”, added Ayesha Verrall.
According to critics of the text, this text could fuel an illegal and unregulated market for tobacco products.
However, there is no ban on vaping devices in the new text.