Opponents of smoking got a breath of fresh air in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as the country’s Parliament passed a bill that is designed to put cigarettes out of reach for future generations.
Under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, anyone born after December 31, 2008, will be banned from ever buying cigarettes in the country. The bill will now go to King Charles III for approval before it can become a law, something most believe is just a formality.
“The end of smoking, and the devastating harm it causes, is no longer uncertain — it’s inevitable,” the Associated Press quoted Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, as saying. The organisation fought a decades-long campaign in favour of legislation that was approved on Tuesday.
What is the Tobacco and Vapes Bill?
Under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, the minimum age to buy cigarettes in the UK will continue to rise every year. Right now, it is illegal to sell cigarettes, tobacco products or vapes to people under 18. Next year it will rise to 19, and it will be 20 the following year.
It means that most youths today will continue to face a ban on buying cigarettes in the UK their entire life.
The bill will also allow the government to regulate tobacco, vaping and nicotine products, including flavours and packaging.
The passage gives the UK one of the toughest anti-smoking measures in the world. The law is similar to one New Zealand lawmakers passed in 2022, but that was then repealed by a subsequent government.
The number of people who smoke in Britain has declined by two-thirds since the 1970s, but according to official figures, some 6.4 million people, or about 13 per cent of the population, still smoke.
Why has the anti-smoking bill been passed in the UK?
Authorities in the UK say smoking causes some 80,000 deaths a year in the country and remains the number one preventable cause of death, disability and poor health.
“Children in the UK will be part of the first smoke-free generation, protected from a lifetime of addiction and harm,” the country’s Health Secretary (health minister) Wes Streeting said.
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