Last week, New Zealand announced that anyone aged 14 and under in 2027 will never be allowed to purchase cigarettes there. Also announced is a measure to cut down on the number of tobacco retailers from 8,000 down to 500. There was also a less detailed announced of a reduction in nicotine levels in tobacco products
Playing the tobacco sales ban out, a person aged 60 in 2073 will be banned from buying cigarettes but someone aged 61 in 2073 will be allowed. This seems to be a bizarre anti-tobacco measure that will certainly be tested legally by lawsuits if in fact it is ever instituted.
"This is all 100% theory and 0% substance," Sunny Kaushal, chairman of the Dairy and Business Owners Group, a lobby group for local convenience stores, told New Zealand's Stuff news site as reported on BBC. "There's going to be a crime wave. Gangs and criminals will fill the gap."
New Zealand’s stated goal is to reduce smoking levels to less than 5% by 2025. According to government data, 13.4% of New Zealand's adult population are classified as smokers. That's down from 18.2% in 2011/12.
Albeit this is only a “partial” cigarette sales ban, this announcement is only the second time such a cigarette sales ban has been announced. Bhutan famously banned all cigarettes sales in 2004, which was rescinded in many ways in 2021 as reported in Tobacco Asia.