The New Zealand government has passed the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Bill into law, which will bar young people from buying tobacco and is aimed to save thousands of lives. .“This legislation accelerates progress towards a smoke free future,” said New Zealand Associate Health Minister Ayesha Verrall in a Tuesday press release. .“Thousands of people will live longer, healthier lives, and the health system will be $5 billion better off from not needing to treat the illnesses caused by smoking, such as numerous types of cancer, heart attacks, strokes, amputations.”.Verrall said the main changes the bill makes are reducing the amount of nicotine allowed in smoking tobacco products, decreasing the number of retailers selling tobacco, and ensuring it is not sold to anyone born in or after 2009. .She said the bill means nicotine will be “reduced to non-addictive levels and communities will be free from the proliferation and clustering of retailers who target and sell tobacco products in certain areas.” .She went on to say the number of retailers around New Zealand able to sell tobacco will be reduced to a tenth of the 6,000 stores around now. The legislation mandates a maximum of 600 tobacco stores by the end of 2023. .The release said New Zealand’s smoking rate is low, with 8% of adults smoking daily. This is down from 9.4% one year ago and half the rate compared to 10 years ago. .The number of people smoking fell by 56,000 people in the past year. .Verrall said the measures are important for equitable health for the Maori people. She added they close the life expectancy gap for Maori women by 25% and for men by 10%. .Verrall said New Zealand has “done well as a country to get to this point, but there is more to do.”.“That’s why the legislation passed today is so important, it puts us firmly on the path to Smokefree 2025,” she said. .Health Canada research published December 6 said the average smoker is spending $170 per month on cigarettes. .READ MORE: Cigarettes costing Canadians $170 per month.“Smokers were asked to indicate how much they spent in the past month on cigarettes,” said the research. .“Responses ranged broadly from nothing to $400 or more.”
