A new kind of tobacco restriction planned by New Zealand.

[Puros Y Vino]

Usually purchasing tobacco has an age restriction. New Zealand has kicked it up a notch. They're going with a birth year restriction.  Anyone born after 2004 cannot purchase tobacco. And you know this will spread......  Age restrictions are reasonable but this is nanny state overdrive.  The article mentions it will hurt local businesses and drive up the illegal market. But they're going to do it anyway.

 

https://www.rt.com/news/521201-new-zealand-cigarettes-smoking-ban/

[Tstew75]

That's surreal & scary.

[djrey]

Oh but its for the greater good!

[dragn270]

I understand trying to reduce the number of tobacco related deaths and that’s good. But people are allowed to make their own choices. I think by now everyone knows that smoking, of any kind, comes with health risks. But that’s the choice people consciously make. Governments should make/fix roads, create parks and maintain the infrastructure of a country, not make peoples’ choices for them. 

[benfica_77]

So weed, mushrooms, and a growing myriad of drugs are being decriminalized or a legal avenue for purchase but tobacco is going in the opposite direction...because the war on drugs really worked. Idiots....

[Fuzz]

[Enduin]

"The initiative also calls for a significant reduction in the level of nicotine allowed in tobacco" HOWEVER all the other toxic crap that they put in cigarettes (which surely contributes the most to the health effects), now that's good to go! 

[La_Tigre]

How does this relate to cigar sales, then?

Mighty ambitious to think 4 years to end tobacco smoking. Do they plan to convert all the addicted to patches or vape? 

In reality, the isolation of the country makes it a possibility in the long term. Seems like setting that baseline age and moving it up every few years would be a long term and manageable solution. Start with those who aren’t legal to buy and maintain it. 

[Ginseng]

Just to be clear that I understand this correctly. At some point, there will be nobody left alive who is legal to purchase tobacco.

[Bijan]

Article says cigarettes? Anyone know if it will apply to cigars. A bit selfish of me but I'd care a lot less if it was just cigarettes...

[Nino]

9 minutes ago, Bijan said:

Article says cigarettes? Anyone know if it will apply to cigars. A bit selfish of me but I'd care a lot less if it was just cigarettes...

No brainer - I am sure it will apply to "tobacco", making cigars a part of it 🙂

[Bijan]

5 minutes ago, Nino said:

I am sure it will apply to "tobacco" - making cigars a part of it 🙂

You'd think but things are not always "logical" thankfully. Hookah/shisha indoors is legal here (I mean not now due to covid but in general) and it's entirely more tolerated, they serve food, etc. Not at all sure what legal framework it falls under.

Edit: meanwhile you can't smoke other things on patios outside

[MrBirdman]

Honestly, while I disagree with this proposal, you can blame the cigarette companies for the environment where stuff like this is possible. They were responsible for the greatest collective act of corporate malfeasance in world history during the 20th century, and since their exposure tobacco sales have been as easy a target for bureaucrats and politicians as there is. 

[SpecialK]

10 minutes ago, Bijan said:

You'd think but things are not always "logical" thankfully. Hookah/shisha indoors is legal here (I mean not now due to covid but in general) and it's entirely more tolerated, they serve food, etc. Not at all sure what legal framework it falls under.

Edit: meanwhile you can't smoke other things on patios outside

As Orwell said... All animals are equal but some animals are more equal that others....

[Nevrknow]

1 hour ago, Bijan said:

Article says cigarettes? Anyone know if it will apply to cigars. A bit selfish of me but I'd care a lot less if it was just cigarettes...

True but therein lies the problem. It doesn’t affect me...... yet. They will not stop there. They never do. 
They came for red. I did not care. They came for blue I did not care. They came for yellow I did not care.

When they came for me, there was no one left to help me. See how that works?

[Bijan]

8 minutes ago, Nevrknow said:

See how that works?

Definitely see how that works. Most people in Canada don't smoke cigars so they don't care what happens to cigars.

Still the fact is I'll be sadder if it applies to cigars.

[Cairo]

58 minutes ago, Nevrknow said:

When they came for me, there was no one left to help me. See how that works?

It is a mark of high civilization that those who have power restrain from using it to oppress those who do not have it.

In my younger days it looked like we were gradually moving towards becoming more civilized as a people.

We now appear to be moving in the wrong direction.

(I always ignore what people say--I just watch what they do.)

[Fuzz]

7 hours ago, Enduin said:

"The initiative also calls for a significant reduction in the level of nicotine allowed in tobacco" HOWEVER all the other toxic crap that they put in cigarettes (which surely contributes the most to the health effects), now that's good to go! 

[Edicion]

8 hours ago, Bijan said:

You'd think but things are not always "logical" thankfully. Hookah/shisha indoors is legal here (I mean not now due to covid but in general) and it's entirely more tolerated, they serve food, etc. Not at all sure what legal framework it falls under.

Edit: meanwhile you can't smoke other things on patios outside

A lot of the Hookah/shishas sold in the West do not contain tobacco, they are often made with molasses. Could be the reason why

[Bijan]

8 minutes ago, Edicion said:

A lot of the Hookah/shishas sold in the West do not contain tobacco, they are often made with molasses. Could be the reason why

It's definitely the molasses kind. It's got some nicotine though. It's pretty common, it's the main kind in UAE/Dubai too, I think they're the major manufacturer. Some places there will also have just plain tobacco but it can be pretty rough in comparison.

And on the other hand most of the smoking bans or the distances you have to be from an entrance to smoke apply to vaping, so it makes you think when vaping is considered similar to smoking but hookah is not. Oh well best not to overanalyze.

[Cold Smoke]

4 hours ago, Bijan said:

Oh well best not to overanalyze.

Let's leave that to the bureaucrats.

[Steens]

Good thing i'm well stocked 😡