New Zealand scraps world-first smoking ‘generation ban’ to fund tax cuts

thehatfox@lemmy.world to World News@lemmy.world – 257 points –
New Zealand scraps world-first smoking ‘generation ban’ to fund tax cuts
theguardian.com
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sure but this is for people that were born after 2009. If enough 14yos have smoked to justify your argument humanity is doomed anyway

Many of the smokers I’ve known started smoking at that age or younger. When I was at school there was a playground back market for cigarettes.

Banning cigarettes for younger people now won’t stop that. Just as banning cannabis for everyone doesn’t stop those who want to smoking it.

Many of the younger people in my family now however don’t want to smoke. There has been a significant shift in cultural and health attitudes against tobacco consumption, without a ban being required.

It's not a temporary measure though I imagine? If someone born after 2009 gets ahold of some illegal cigarettes a few years from now (I definitely remember some high schoolers when I went to school that smoked, despite being under the legal age at the time) and gets addicted, then the issue still arises. People end up addicted to illegal drugs all the time.