New Zealand has come up with a unique plan that will ensure smoking of tobacco in the country fades away completely in future.
The government believes that with the new plan, those aged 14 years and below will be banned from smoking tobacco for a lifetime.
According to the new law that the government announced on Thursday, the minimum age of buying cigarettes will keep rising every year. The law will be passed next year.
The law insinuates that 65 years after the it becomes effective only those above 80 years would be allowed to buy cigarettes but officials hope that smoking will fade away decades before then.
By 2025, the country intends to have less than 5% of smoking citizens.
The law suggests the sale of only tobacco products that have low amounts of nicotine and also reduction of the number of stores that sell them.
The government plans to roll out the plan in overtime so that retailers can also adjust. The current minimum age for buying cigars is 18 years.
Smoking rates have steadily fallen in New Zealand for years, with only about 11% of adults now smoking and 9% smoking every day. The daily rate among Indigenous Maori remains much higher at 22%. Under the government’s plan, a task force would be created to help reduce smoking among Maori.
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