Smokefree plan criticised

WELLINGTON: The Government’s plan to progressively increase the legal purchase age for cigarettes to stop the next generation from smoking does not have the support of a smokefree group.

With just under four years to reach its target to eliminate smoking, a Government discussion document suggests drastic action.

One proposal to create a ‘‘smokefree generation’’ is by progressively increasing the age at which cigarettes can be legally bought.

That would mean if the legislation came into effect next year, those who were 18 (born in 2004) would not be able to buy cigarettes for successive years.

‘‘That means eventually . . . you’d have a group of people who wouldn’t legally be able to purchase until the age of 25, or something,’’ Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall said.

Action for Smokefree 2025 director Deborah Hart said the independent nongovernmental organisation did not support the idea, because it would not make a dent in smoking rates.

She said 60,000 New Zealanders would need to quit smoking every year to reach the goal of elimination by 2025, which is three times the number of people now quitting every year.

Another proposal was to limit the amount of nicotine in cigarettes.

‘‘If it’s at a moderate level — say a 50% reduction — there’s a thought that people just smoke more to make up for the nicotine, so for that option to work, it would need to be quite a low level,’’ Dr Verrall said.

Other changes being floated include slashing the number of tobacco retailers based on population density and licensing all sellers.

It is estimated up to 8000 outlets in New Zealand sell smoking tobacco.

‘‘It’s an estimate, because we don’t even know how many outlets we have, because we don’t have licensing,’’ Dr Verrall said.

‘‘It strikes me as amazing that for a retailer to sell a sandwich they need to be licensed, but they don’t need to be licensed to sell tobacco.’’

Another consideration in the Government’s discussion document is to limit the sale of tobacco to pharmacies.

‘‘That means small retailers like convenience stores, dairies, wouldn’t lose the sale of grocery items to their competitors if they stopped selling tobacco . . .

‘‘And it is not the only way that we move away from sales through convenience stores.

‘‘We could, for example, set up an altogether new category of retailer — a tobacconist — as has been done in some European countries.’’

The tobacco industry had a lot of power and resources, so Dr Verrall said MPs would be scrutinising who was involved in the submission process.

‘‘We know the tobacco industry has previously set up groups to advocate on their behalf while pretending to be at arm’s length from big tobacco.’’

The public can make submissions on the proposals until May 31. — RNZ

❛ We could for example set up an altogether new category

of retailer — a tobacconist — as has been done in some European countries

Ayesha Verrall