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Attempts to stop future generations from ever getting their hands on tobacco products are striking out. Photo credit: freestocks.org, Pexels
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Next generations’ right to choose whether to use tobacco products or not will not be ripped away quite just yet. Photo credit: Wilawan Pantukang, Pexels
The end of 2023 was probably not what anti-tobacco advocates would say was ending the year on a high-note as two legislations in different countries that would have introduced generational smoking bans went awry.
Strike one…
The first legislation to go was New Zealand’s much-lauded, much-talked about regulations that would have introduced the world’s first generational smoking ban, stopping those born after 2008 from ever being able to legally buy cigarettes. Introduced in 2022 and scheduled to be implemented from July 2024, the law would also reduce nicotine levels in tobacco products, restrict their sales only through special tobacco stores, and reduce the number of stores allowed to sell cigarettes from 6,000 to 600 nationwide.
In late November, New Zealand’s new prime minister, Christopher Luxon, announced his government would be repealing those regulations, putting an end to the generational ban before it ever went into force, citing increased economic growth and lower inflation as his main priorities.
The original prohibition, according to Luxon, would have provided "an opportunity for a black market to emerge, which would be largely untaxed."
The new finance minister, Nicola Willis, said the restrictions would be scrapped before March 2024, with revenue from cigarette sales going towards the new government’s tax cuts.
“Coming back to those extra sources of revenue and other savings areas that will help us to fund the tax reduction, we have to remember that the changes to the smoke-free legislation had a significant impact on the government books – with about NZ$1 billion there,” said Willis.
Strike two…
Just a few days after news of New Zealand repealing its generational ban came out, Malaysia removed its own generational end game (GEG) provisions that would ban tobacco and vape products for anyone born from 2007 from the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill, which was later passed by the senate on December 14. This came about after attorney general Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh advised that the GEG was unconstitutional, contravening Article 8 of the Federal Constitution that guarantees equality before the law and equal protection of the law, as "it creates unequal legal treatment between a person born before Jan 1, 2007 and a person born on and after Jan 1, 2007". Then-health minister Dr. Zaliha Mustafa said the decision to drop the GEG from the bill was a “collective” decision by the government.
Getting the bill passed did not proceed without a bit of drama as, at one point during heated debates in Parliament on November 30 over the removal of the GEG from the bill, Zaliha was compelled to cite a hadith reminding MPs to treat women kindly. “The temperature of debate has gone up, with certain quarters provoking and rebuking me over the matter,” she said. “But I’m fine with that. I’m a person who can receive feedback and agree to disagree as long as the other party does not resort to rude remarks.”
“I just want to remind you of Prophet Muhammad’s hadith, which urges his followers to behave kindly towards women. The sentence is repeated three times in his farewell sermon.”
Almost two weeks later, Zaliha was succeeded by former health minister Dr. Dzulkefly Ahmad in a cabinet reshuffle on December 12. She is now minister in the prime minister’s department (federal territories).
Dzulkefly had previously served as health minister during May 2018-February 2020 in Dr. Mahathir Mohamad's administration. During his time as health minister, the ministry extended a smoking ban from indoor restaurants to open-air eateries, as well as imposing a smoking ban in the Parliament building.
Dzulkefly’s reappointment may still bring back the GEG as when he was the chairperson of the Health Parliamentary Special Select Committee Dzulkefly expressed disappointment the GEG was dropped from the bill and vowed to “fight to bring back the implementation of the GEG at a more reasonable time.” Nevertheless, when he tabled the bill for approval in the Dewan Negara senate on December 13, one day after taking over from Zaliha, he urged lawmakers from both sides to support the bill. “I apologize a million times, I apologize to everyone, and I present it without diminishing the importance that all members approve this bill,” he said. “Because it has been worked on for too long, many health ministers have struggled with it, [it] was reviewed by several cabinets, and today I am presenting it to the Dewan Negara, fully hoping that it will be given support.”
And…strike three?
The only country that still has a tobacco generational ban planned is the UK. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s proposed ban would prevent anyone born in 2009 or later from ever being able to legally buy a cigarette. Health minister Neil O’Brien had opposed the idea of a generational ban in April 2023, saying the Government’s policy for achieving its “smoke-free nation” target by 2030 would be by “helping people to quit” rather than applying bans. But, as it seems that target will be 7-10 years off-course, PM Sunak is turning to a more radical approach.
On November 7, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill was formally introduced in Parliament during the King's Speech. The bill includes the generational ban as well as further regulations on vapes to prevent the sale and promotion of vapes to children.
However, according to inews, there is speculation the UK government will abandon the generational tobacco ban in exchange for a compromise of raising the smoking age from 18 to 21 (without any resistance from the industry). It is also said that a large number of libertarian Tory MPs object to the notion of the government restricting people's freedom of choice, which, along with seeing what happened in New Zealand where right-wing and libertarian parties established a coalition government that repealed the generational ban, may influence Sunak’s decision.