New Zealand Passes Groundbreaking No-Smoke Law

The New Zealand parliament today passed amendments to the Smoke-free Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Act, with expectations that it will gradually phase out the use of combustible tobacco products in the country.

Today, history has been made for several generations of families who have lost loved ones to preventable diseases caused by tobacco use in public health," said Laurent Huber, the Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH). "New Zealand has demonstrated the potential for single-handedly changing tobacco laws and we are ready to help other jurisdictions to follow their pioneering lead.

According to a news release, this concept is referred to as "Smoke-Free Generation," or SFG, and can also be described as a sales ban with grandfather clauses for current adult smokers.

New Zealand will become the third government to pass such legislation, following the Philippines' Balangiga (which was unable to implement the law due to litigation) and Brookline, Massachusetts, which implemented a similar law ("Smokefree Generation") in January 2021 and successfully defended against industry lawsuits in October 2022.

Unlike New Zealand, Balanga City and Brookline have banned the sale of all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and nasal snuff, to anyone born in this century, instead of focusing solely on combustible products. This is being described as a more comprehensive approach to tobacco control.

It is important to emphasize that the Tobacco-Free Generation Act only applies to the sale of combustible tobacco," said Huber of ASH, who has long supported SFG. "The law does not prohibit individuals from purchasing, owning, or using - or engaging in smoking behavior. The issue here is the tobacco industry, not their victims.

The second step of the law is to significantly reduce the number of retailers - researchers estimate that the final reduction may be as high as 95%. Finally, according to the press release, the new law includes lowering the nicotine content in cigarettes to below addictive levels.

According to a report from the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's Secretary for Food and Health, Sophia Chan Siu-chee, has confirmed that a ban on selling tobacco to future generations will be implemented as a tool to further reduce youth smoking. Malaysia's government is also pushing for a bill to ban the use of electronic cigarettes and smoking for those born after 2007, despite opposition from some lawmakers.

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