New Zealand set to become smokefree by 2025
The number of shops across the nation that are
legally allowed to sell cigarettes will drop from 6,000 to 600, according to
The Guardian. The legislation, which will take effect in 2023 as New Zealand
works to become "smoke-free" by 2025, passed its final reading on
Tuesday night.
"Thousands of people will live longer,
healthier lives," Associate Health Minister Ayesha Verrall said during the
law's passage on Tuesday. "The health system will be $5 billion better off
because we won't have to treat the illnesses caused by smoking, such as
numerous types of cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and amputations."
The Smokefree Environments and Regulated
Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill, according to The New Zealand Herald,
makes three main changes: reducing the nicotine content of smoked tobacco
products; reducing the number of retailers who sell tobacco; and ensuring that
no tobacco is ever sold to anyone who was born on or after January 1, 2009.
With support from Labour, the Greens, and Te
Paati Maori, the bill passed its final reading in Parliament and is now
expected to become law.
Only 8% of adults in New Zealand smoke every
day, which is significantly lower than the 9.4% smoking rate from a year and a
half ago and half the percentage from ten years ago.
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