{"id":1168,"date":"2023-01-03T09:13:21","date_gmt":"2023-01-03T09:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.renewable-india.com\/?p=1168"},"modified":"2023-01-03T09:13:21","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T09:13:21","slug":"a-step-towards-the-future-of-the-next-gen-tobacco-free-new-zealand-by-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.renewable-india.com\/featured-articles\/a-step-towards-the-future-of-the-next-gen-tobacco-free-new-zealand-by-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"A step towards the future of the Next Gen \u2013 Tobacco-free New Zealand by 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every country in the world worries about its generations. After all, the new generation is the future of the country. Uplifting them socio-economically, and psychologically is our duty. But what about the physical health of the young population? Are we taking enough measures to safeguard them from possible health dangers? <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

New Zealand\u2019s new tobacco law is a ray of hope for the young residents of the country. Let us know what this law is all about. What is the potential of the respective law? How can the law motivate other countries to take steps in the same direction?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

What is New Zealand’s Tobacco law?<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

The law focuses on banning cigarette sales to anybody born after or in 2009. The law was made to save the future generation from various repercussions of smoking. Indeed, the action will affect the tobacco industry adversely, however, it also can fulfill one of the green goals- a Smoke-free New Zealand by 2025.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

Punishment for those not abiding by the law<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

According to the law, the retailers will not be allowed to sell cigarettes to anyone born on or after 2009. And if any retailer does so, he or she will be charged with a fine of up to 15,00,00 New Zealand dollars. Not to forget, the law will be applicable till 1st January 2027- the year when those born in 2009 will turn 18.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

What is the smoking rate in New Zealand?<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h2>\n

This is not the first time when New Zealand is enacting anti-smoking laws. The government has done some substantial work in the same direction in past years. Be it banning smoking in indoor places in 1990 or prohibiting smoking in vehicles carrying children in 2019, the country was way ahead of its counterparts in making anti-smoking laws.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

Several anti-smoking laws since 1984 have been made and implemented successfully. As an effect, the New Zealand smoking rate has gone down <\/span><\/span><\/span>to 10.9 percent among adults. However, now the country is focusing on the young generation so that it can finally become a completely smoke-free zone.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

What will be the immediate effects of the law?<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

1. Legalized retail stores to sell tobacco products will become one-tenth of the former ones. Around 6000 tobacco stores in New Zealand will eventually become 600 in number. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

2. A serious reduction in annual tax revenue can be observed with the ban on tobacco products.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

3. Lakhs of people will lose jobs as there will be fewer retail shops and hence few wo<\/span><\/span><\/span>kers will be required in the tobacco industry as well. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

How will it be advantageous for the overall well-being of the country?\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

Besides the shortcomings mentioned above, the country will prosper in the long run and so will the law. The law drafted will be positively implemented from mid-2023 with the following long-term expectations.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

1. Barring young individuals from purchasing smoking items will protect them from developing smoking habits at a very tender age thus protecting them from becoming chain smokers and creating a healthier lifestyle. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

2. There will be very few tobacco retailers in the market. This means, because of the respective law, cigarettes will not be very easily available to users.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

3. Reducing the number of retailers in poor neighborhoods will automatically help smokers to quit cigarettes gradually. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

4. There will be a prominent decrease in the amount of nicotine in smoked tobacco products which will also help in creating a smoke-free environment. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

5. Around $5 billion will be saved as the government need not spend money on various smoke-related illnesses like heart attacks, amputations, strokes, and various cancers. Hence, there will be fewer life casualties as well.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

6. Slowly yet gradually, the country will soon be a smoke-free zone by 2025.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

Indeed, the road to achieving the aim for the greater good of the people will not be very easy. The law has as many supporters, as well as there, are people against the law. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

The research says that almost half of smokers start with the habit before they turn 18 which means banning smoking for the young population is not a choice but a necessity. On the other hand, some believe this law is nothing less than snatching the country\u2019s economic freedom. And the age limitation varies for every canton thus creating more confusion at the end.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

No matter what step we take in life, there will always be some pros and cons. However, as far as this law is concerned, the pros are ten times more than its cons. According to Ms. Ayesha Verrall, New Zealand\u2019s minister for research, science, and innovation, \u201cThe foremost step to save healthy individuals as well as Cancer\/HIV patients from further damage is to make them quit smoking. And the best way to do so is to control the sales of cigarettes so that smokers can quit smoking easily and future generations never start with the habit.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

Sustainable Development Goals \u2013 A way to a Green World<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every country in the world worries about its generations. After all, the new generation is the future of the country. Uplifting them socio-economically, and psychologically is our duty. But what about the physical health of the young population? Are we taking enough measures to safeguard them from possible health dangers? New Zealand\u2019s new tobacco law […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-articles"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.renewable-india.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1168"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.renewable-india.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.renewable-india.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.renewable-india.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.renewable-india.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1168"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.renewable-india.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1174,"href":"https:\/\/www.renewable-india.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1168\/revisions\/1174"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.renewable-india.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.renewable-india.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.renewable-india.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.renewable-india.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}