New Zealand is cracking down on cigarettes for future generations

If you were born after 2008 in New Zealand, you'll never, ever be allowed to buy a pack of cigarettes there.

In new legislation expected to take hold next year, no cigarette or tobacco products will be available for people to purchase legally in the country. That means anyone who is 14 as of today will never be allowed to buy them in New Zealand. The four-year Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan hopes to reduce rates of smoking for older people while completely banning sales for the younger population.

Associate health minister Dr. Ayesha Verall, who announced the government's plan, said the country is cementing a "smoke-free generation" with this legislation.

"We want to make sure young people never start smoking so we will make it an offense to sell or supply smoked tobacco products to new cohorts of youth," said Verall in a statement.

The move comes as New Zealand's health ministry pursues a large-scale crackdown on tobacco in the country. In April 2021, the country's parliament announced its goal of being smoke-free by 2025, aiming to slowly reduce, phase out, then entirely cut the prospect of smoking. There are already existing barriers to tobacco products in New Zealand, including high taxes and plain packaging on cigarettes.

"Clinical studies have shown that dramatically reducing nicotine levels in cigarettes makes it far easier for people to quit," said Verall in parliament. "So the action plan will see New Zealand transition to low-nicotine cigarettes. This is a major change but it is based on clinical research and it is realistic, because with vapes widely available, there is a far less harmful option available for smokers who are addicted to nicotine."

While vapes were introduced as a way to reduce cigarette consumption, they remain harmful according to research. Vapes are also particularly appealing to young people, who have long been the target demographic for the product.

Other reforms in the country include a reduced number of shops being able to sell cigarettes. While now around 8,000 stores are allowed to do so, the amount will drop to 500. A lobby group for local convenience stores has condemned this plan, however, telling Reuters that it will result in a "crime wave." New Zealand's black market already consists of at least 10 percent of tobacco sales in the country.

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Still, the cigarette reforms have caused a shift in the health of the country, with New Zealand's smoking population sitting at 13.4 percent in adults, well below the global average. According to government figures, the Māori population has New Zealand’s highest smoking rates, at 31.4 percent (this rate has decreased in the last decade).

In a factsheet provided by the Ministry of Health, it is stated that "smoking causes more harm to Māori, Pacific peoples, and people living in [socioeconomically] deprived areas." The government says its plan will include Māori leadership "at all levels" and engaging community action.

The country's health ministry says that smoking is the leading cause of preventable death within New Zealand — around 5,000 people die every year from a smoking-induced disease. Worldwide, tobacco is continuously touted as a health crisis, with smoking and second-hand smoking killing over 8 million people a year.