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This law was originally implemented within New Zealand some years ago and I believe it is based on the same principles. I am all for it because it doesn't affect those that already smoke, just the ones that would potentially get into it in the future. And it has a rolling eligibility year so every year it will move, stopping all future generations from potentially being able to try it legally. Eventually it would get to the point where the generations that currently smoke die off completely and then it would be most likely looked at from an antiquated perspective. Unfortunately, in our case, as soon as the latest conservative parliament got into power, they completely rolled it back. We never got to see the long term potential positive implications of it in practice.

This is a stupid decision. Prohibition has never worked. Instead there will be more illegal, unsafe and unregulated cigarettes that the newer generations will smoke which will be more harmful while at the same time losing tax revenues and an increase in policing costs.

A better solution will be just to tax the shit out of these products and fund healthcare with it.

That is quite the ban.

It's OK, nobody born after that will be able to afford them.

There's a reason vapes got popular, and part of that is a pack of 20 ciggies costing £15+.

So now everyone smells of either fruit salads or weed.

Not including vaping is kinda... Odd.

No way the police are going to use this to further harass young people, especially from racialized communities.

And no way this will create pathways to link marginalized youth with organised crime and such.

Education is the answer - not bans.
We don't need less freedom.

I sometimes feel like people get so caught up on the word "prohibition" that their arguments bend towards addiction enabling at a societal scale. Smoking is beyond crazy when you look at the stats (using USA for convenience, but similar for other countries)

• Cigarettes are the leading cause of preventable disease and death, causing nearly 500k deaths per year. [For reference, the far more popular drug alcohol is the 3rd highest with under 100k deaths]
• In 2024, 41k deaths were due to second hand smoke exposure alone
• Cigarettes cost the USA more than $600B in 2018
• Private insurance only pays for a fraction of the health care costs, the vast majority coming directly/indirectly from public funds
• The damage done has a vastly disproportionate burden on minorities, the poor and other at-risk populations

The problem is simple: cigarettes are a massive drain on the health system, directly and indirectly. The solution should be just as simple: buying cigarettes forfeits your rights to health care treatments for the damage caused. You get some palliative care but we save the lung transplants for people who aren't killing themselves.

If you think that's too harsh then you should stomach the cost of prohibition, policing and black markets. No matter how shitty, costly and dangerous it may be I promise that it will save lives and money if it's a barrier to even a fraction of smokers.

Chalk up another imminent failure for the war on drugs

I'm imagining the last person alive to be eligible to smoke going on a grand journey to the last place selling the last pack of smokes in the country. I think this law is so ass backwards and does nothing about addressing people's concerns including the comments made in here.

Healthcare concern? Tax it, a single use isn't going to put a strain on the healthcare system. Make sure lifetime smokers have paid in more than their fair share.

Age limit? What's the current UK view on alcohol? You can't just cherry-pick drugs and regulations if you're trying to make sense.

Vape and smoke indistinguishable? Sure, but lets add additional tax onto ANYTHING that creates pollutants. It being illegal in cars is kinda ironic and hilarious. Especially from those living near industrial sites with bad water and smog effects, has the government made sure those companies are paying their fair share or restricting what they release because of the children?

I'm all for people's opinions and ideas shared, I just don't like governments that target civilian freedoms more than corporate profits when they've had the chance for the past hundred years. Let the people decide, local jurisdictions banning areas and businesses opting out are completely fine with me. Playing this weird game of "sorry you were born a day too late to be eligible" is weird. Ban it all or not, let the cards lay. Too much wiggle room/cost for enforcement for this to be anything useful and will probably just be thrown out at a later date wasting everyone's time.