Exclusive: Sources say law could gradually increase smoking age to ultimately prevent sales to people born after certain year

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/worldnews@lemmy.ml/t/479123

Rishi Sunak is considering introducing some of the world’s toughest anti-smoking measures that would in effect ban the next generation from ever being able to buy cigarettes, the Guardian has learned.

Whitehall sources said the prime minister was looking at measures similar to those brought in by New Zealand last December. They involved steadily increasing the legal smoking age so tobacco would end up never being sold to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009.

  • thehatfox@lemmy.worldEnglish
    12·
    1 year ago

    Because prohibition has been such a great success for other drugs.

    The New Zealand law is ridiculous and not something we should be emulating. Smoking is already steadily declining in the UK, we should be sticking with the current approach with the view that smoking can die a natural death.

    • HipPriest@kbin.social
      8·
      1 year ago

      This is why, as an adult vaper, I get slightly fed up of all the anti-vape news stories. Obviously I am heavily against kids using them, and I also think the disposable ones are environmentally unfriendly to say the least.

      But they’re a major asset in getting people off the cigs as well and it would be good to remember that once in a while. It’s cheaper. It’s healthier - a low bar but you can tell the difference in days after switching.

      To my mind you can’t have it both ways. It’s no coincidence that smoking rates have fallen further at the same time that vape shops have popped up everywhere like a rash - they were falling anyway but it’s sped things up a lot. (Incidentally my guess is it’s not high street vape shops selling to kids but the same garages, newsagents etc that would have sold them fags in the past but that’s just anecdotal evidence and conjecture).

      I don’t agree with bans. I also don’t think putting little pictures of tumours on a fag packet ever stopped me lighting up once. What I do like it’s seeing politicians finally mentioning ‘oh yeah, by the way, smoking isn’t very good for you either’ after all this moral panic about vaping

      (I am ranting a bit because I’m slightly drunk but I have been thinking this a lot this week)

      • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukOPEnglish
        3·
        1 year ago

        (Incidentally my guess is it’s not high street vape shops selling to kids but the same garages, newsagents etc that would have sold them fags in the past but that’s just anecdotal evidence and conjecture).

        Indeed. Let’s not forget that, back in the day, they’re the ones that sold “loosies” to school kids.

  • Overzeetop@beehaw.orgEnglish
    8·
    1 year ago

    Skip smoking and vape limits. Outlaw nicotine and other addictive synthetic nicotine-like compounds. For gods sake - you’re not allowed to buy acetaminophen or pseudoephedrine in bulk in the UK.

    Stop allowing the sale of the addictive drug and a good deal of the problem will correct itself.

  • HipPriest@kbin.social
    5·
    1 year ago

    I like how they focused on vapes first and then looked at smoking laws…

    Have to say it though I’d agree with doing something pro-active anti-smoking, but he can say any old thing knowing he won’t have to follow through on it now.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    3·
    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    Labour has previously said it was consulting on phasing out cigarette sales over time for younger people in a similar way to New Zealand, with the shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, saying in January he wanted to find out whether there was an “appetite for change” in the country.

    In relation to Sunak’s net zero rowback and confusion over his education policies, Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, said the government was creating instability in the country that was exacerbating an “economic bin-fire” under the Tories.

    “At a time when people and businesses are crying out for stability, Rishi Sunak has poured fuel on the Tories’ economic bin-fire in a desperate bid to keep Liz Truss and her fellow arsonists happy,” he told the Guardian.

    Sunak is also under pressure over the HS2 high-speed rail line, with talks being held over whether to cut the Birmingham to Manchester arm of the project in a move that would infuriate northern Tories and further risk seats won under Boris Johnson in 2019.

    However, the shift in the net zero agenda, drawn up under the guidance of the electoral strategist Isaac Levido, as well as the search for dividing lines in the areas of welfare and crime, suggest the policy changes are also highly political.

    Asked about the policy of a New Zealand style-smoking ban, a government spokesperson said: “Smoking is a deadly habit – it kills tens of thousands of people each year and places a huge burden on the NHS and the economy.

    The original article contains 888 words, the summary contains 251 words. Saved 72%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!