WELLINGTON: Despite warnings from researchers and activists about the possibility of fatalities, the government of New Zealand said on Tuesday that it will be repealing a world-first rule that forbade the sale of tobacco products to future generations.
The world’s strictest anti-tobacco regulations, which were scheduled to go into effect in July, would have lowered the amount of nicotine in smoked tobacco products, prohibited sales to people born after January 1, 2009, and eliminated more than 90% of tobacco merchants.
As previously mentioned, the newly elected coalition government, which was chosen in October, affirmed on Tuesday that the law will be repealed urgently. This will allow them to do away with the requirement for public comment.
The coalition administration, according to Associate Health Minister Casey Costello, is dedicated to lowering smoking rates, but it is adopting a different regulatory strategy to deter smoking and lessen its harmful effects.
Costello declared, “I will shortly be taking a set of actions to cabinet improve the number of tools accessible to help individuals quit smoking.” He also mentioned that stricter laws around vaping would be implemented in order to discourage youth.
The decision has been criticism because to concerns that it may have a more significant effect on the Maori and Pasifika populations, who have higher rates of smoking. It has also been strongly criticized for its anticipated influence on health outcomes in New Zealand.
According to researcher Janet Hoek from Otago University, repeal will not improve health inequities, would be inconsistent with substantial research evidence, and would disregard measures strongly backed by Maori leaders.
According to Hoek, co-director of a team researching smoking cessation strategies, “Large-scale clinical trials as well as modelling studies indicate the legislation would have drastically raised the rates of stopping among cigarette smokers along with making it far more difficult for youths to take up smoking.”
