In 2027, people under the age of 14 will never be allowed to buy 5 million cigarettes in Pacific countries. Some of the proposals announced Thursday will also curb the number of retailers allowed to sell tobacco and lower nicotine levels in all products. A series of measures will make New Zealand’s retail tobacco industry one of the most restricted in the world, just behind Bhutan, where tobacco sales are completely banned. Australia, a neighbor of New Zealand, was the first country in the world to mandate plain cigarette packaging in 2012. Smoking kills about 5,000 people annually in New Zealand, making it one of the leading causes of preventable deaths.

Source: Stuff December 09, 2021 08:08 UTC