Why NZ’s ‘tobacco endgame’ law will be a world-first for public health
Proposed legislation will create a 'smokefree generation' by banning sale of tobacco to people born in 2009 or later
With the first reading of a new bill in parliament earlier this week, Aotearoa New Zealand’s plan to be smokefree by 2025 takes another tangible step forward.
The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill will now go to the health select committee for submissions and review, and (presumably) return to the House in late 2022 to be passed into law.
Assuming the final legislation looks similar to what is being proposed, it will mean Aotearoa New Zealand leapfrogs all other countries to be at the vanguard of tobacco control, with policy settings aimed at getting smoking prevalence beneath 5% of the adult population within years (not decades).
The bill provides for three key strategies:
