New Zealand has passed a suite of new anti-smoking laws that bans its youths from purchasing tobacco products. The suite of new laws is among the strictest in the world and includes bans on the selling of tobacco to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, punishable by fines up to NZ$150,000 ($95,910).
The legislation will also reduce the amount of nicotine allowed in smoked tobacco products and cut the number of retailers able to sell tobacco by 90%, from 6,000 to 600 by the end of 2023.
New Zealand has the lowest adult smoking rates among the 38 countries of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development, it’s also tightening anti-smoking laws as part of government push to make the country “smokefree” by 2025.
