(Image via mentalhealth.org.uk)
Volunteer Writer: Akshit Bagga
Email: abagga@umassd.edu
UK parliamentarians voted in the House of Lords, backing British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s plan to create a smoke-free Britain preventing anyone born after 2009 from ever buying a cigarette.
On March 20, 2024, the Sunak-led British government introduced a Tobacco and Vapes Bill to the people of the United Kingdom. The bill proposes to prohibit the sale of tobacco products to anyone born on or after January 1, 2009. It would implement the smoke-free generation policy and aim to save thousands of lives and billions of dollars in healthcare caused by smoking and vaping.
The act of smoking is targeted rather than the sale of cigarettes themselves, though it would also prevent the younger generations from getting their hands on a pack. Under the new bill, the current legal age of 18 required to purchase a cigarette will increase by one every year. This would ban anyone at or below the age of 15 at the time of writing—those born in or after 2009—from ever buying a cigarette.
Despite opposition from some members of Sunak’s conservative party, the landmark bill was passed for consideration in the parliament on April 16, 2024. At the next stage, it will now be scrutinized in the House of Lords by MPs before being announced as the law. If the bill is passed as a law in England, it will make the country to be one with the strictest smoking laws.
Approximately 383 lawmakers voted in favor of the move, while 67 opposed it. Health experts are widely praising the bill, which is backed by the opposition Labor Party. Opponents of the bill lobbied the government, mentioning that the move would create a black market for tobacco products.
Rishi Sunak, in an interview with the BBC, said, “Smoking is unequivocally the single biggest preventable cause of death, disability and illness in our society,” He continued to add, “Everyone recognizes this measure will be the single biggest intervention in public health in a generation.”
Those against the bill included prominent conservative party leaders and two of Sunak’s predecessors, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. The ex-prime ministers suggested that such plans were against conservative values and limited the personal freedom of people. During a debate, Truss mentioned the bill as a “virtue-signaling piece of legislation about protecting adults from themselves in the future.”
The ban will be phased in. Smoking will not be criminalized, and anyone who is legally allowed to buy cigarettes can continue to do so. However, with this ban in place, older people will be required to carry a valid ID if they wish to buy cigarettes.
Similar policies were introduced in New Zealand by previous Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Still, the country’s new coalition government repealed the bill earlier this year before it could come into effect. Currently, Mexico has one of the strictest smoking laws, banning any such activity at beaches, parks, and private homes in some cases. Portugal aims to have a smoke-free generation by 2040, and Canada is working to reduce tobacco usage by 2035.
While the ban only covers England, neighboring countries Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland may consider similar actions. Sky News received a statement from Scotland’s Health Minister Jenni Minto saying “we know there is strong support to raise the age of sale of tobacco products in Scotland.”
According to numbers released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), approximately 6.4 million people aged over 18 smoked cigarettes in 2022. People aged between 25 and 34 had the highest number of smokers, while the lowest were over 65. While the number of young cigarette smokers has decreased, an increase has been recorded in e-cigarettes, and the popularity of vaping has grown among teens.
With a mixed response from the people of the UK, it will be interesting to watch England’s journey toward a smoke-free generation.