Exclusive: Sources say law could gradually increase smoking age to ultimately prevent sales to people born after certain year

Rishi Sunak is considering introducing some of the world’s toughest anti-smoking measures that would in effect ban the next generation from ever being able to buy cigarettes, the Guardian has learned.

Whitehall sources said the prime minister was looking at measures similar to those brought in by New Zealand last December. They involved steadily increasing the legal smoking age so tobacco would end up never being sold to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009.

  • Pili
    9•1 year ago

    Honestly, tobaco is pretty crap as a recreational drug. It would surprise me if non-smokers would go out of their way to get black market cigarettes like they would with alcohol if it got banned.

      • ThenThreeMoreEnglish
        3•1 year ago

        But that’s people who are already addicted. I doubt anyone is going to the black market to try tobacco.

      • @jcit878
        2•1 year ago

        there’s a black market in Australia, but it’s very small and penalties for suppliers are so high there’s barely any incentive to run it, with a dwindling customer base

        • @[email protected]
          0•1 year ago

          Do u not think that a factor of that is that people are still able to get cigs legally, even if they r expensive.