New Zealand to outlaw tobacco
Inside a raw cigars production facility.
Under the headline Smokefree2025, New Zealand lawmakers target tobacco use among youth cohorts. The end goal is to create an entirely smoke-free society within the next four years. The country will roll out several measures to make smoking super expensive and unattainable. Just days earlier, New Zealand moved on to legalize drug checking services. When it comes to cannabis, Kiwis say they'll spend more time and resources on research before amending existent, limiting regulation on medical use.
Lawmakers in New Zealand announced earlier this week smoking would be banned for the next generation. Those currently aged 14 and under will never be legally able to purchase tobacco goods. Under the new law, the legal smoking age will increase every year, ultimately creating a smoke-free generation of New Zealanders.
Associate health minister Dr Ayesha Verral said on Thursday, "We want to make sure young people never start smoking so we will make it an offence to sell or supply smoked tobacco products to new cohorts of youth. People aged 14 when the law comes into effect will never be able to legally purchase tobacco."
The country will also reduce the legal amount of nicotine in tobacco products to very low levels in a world first. It will cut down the shops where cigarettes and other tobacco products are sold and increase funding for addiction services. The new regulations will not encompass vaping, however.
Smoking has already been largely replaced by vaping among New Zealand youths. A recent poll has shown that out of 19,000 high school students this year, nearly 20% were vaping daily or several times a day, most frequently products with high doses of nicotine.
Taking unorthodox approaches to tackle addictions and preserve the health of populations seems to become the brand of New Zealand. The country recently legalized drug-checking services as well, enabling festivalgoers to test illicit substances before use without the fear of legal repercussions. Around the world, only the Netherlands and Portugal have drug-checking services in place, however, the services in these two countries are still functioning in a legally grey area.
And what about cannabis? To this end, New Zealand authorities plan more research before making big decisions. Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor recently announced additional funding worth $760,000 into an existent $1.9 million, three-year medical cannabis program. The grant is anticipated to accelerate New Zealand's medicinal cannabis industry. The research outcomes should help determine the country's future policy on cannabis.
Scientists will rigorously screen the unknown New Zealand cannabinoids and terpene genetic profiles. Cultivation and extraction practices will be standardized within the research process, and the entire knowledge will be shared with licensed growers.
O'Connor said: "This funding will ensure these growers have access to essential industry knowledge and insights much further and faster than would have otherwise been possible."
A referendum to legalise the adult use of cannabis in New Zealand failed last year.
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Stephen Andrews
