New Zealand to Repeal Generational Tobacco Ban

[MrBirdman]

Who says tobacco laws only move in one direction…

https://halfwheel.com/new-zealands-government-scrapping-generational-tobacco-ban/431936/

NEW ZEALAND’S GOVERNMENT SCRAPPING GENERATIONAL TOBACCO BAN

New Zealand’s landmark generational tobacco ban, one that banned anyone born after Jan. 1, 2009 from purchasing tobacco products, is set to be repealed.

Last month, the country held elections which saw the National Party win more seats than any other party. The new coalition government, led by the National Party and New Zealand First, has announced that it plans to repeal the ban, which was passed in December 2022.

 

 

The revised Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill made it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009. This was in addition to the country’s previous law, which banned anyone under the age of 18 from purchase tobacco products. People that were 14-17-years-old would have been grandfathered in, but anyone born after 2008 would never have been able to legal purchase tobacco products in New Zealand. Given the timing, a repeal isn’t going to actively increase the number of people that could legally purchase tobacco as the new generational smoking ban wouldn’t have affected any potential new customers until 2027.

In addition, the law also restricted the number of retailers that could sell tobacco and vaping products and introduced nicotine limits for cigarettes. The new government plans to overturn these provisions by March 2024.

While it will rollback various tobacco and vaping laws, the government plans on introducing new laws banning disposable vaping products and increasing the fines for those caught selling to anyone under the age of 18-years-old.

Hong Kong and the United Kingdom are currently planning generational tobacco bans of their own.

[ayedfy]

Even when a government tries to do something sensible, they have to do something else nonsensical like banning vapes to balance it out.

[Fuzz]

The are only banning disposable vapes... not because they are vapes, but because they are not recyclable!

[BrightonCorgi]

More like they want the tax revenue from tobacco products to allow for "other tax cuts".  This train of thought is even worse than the original ban.  They know tobacco is that bad for you yet their own greed will turn a blind eye on the health of the country so they can collect more tax money.

Nothing to do with liberty or self determination.  Simple shell game charade with tax collection.