THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Australian state of Tasmania is considering a ban on cigarette sales to anyone born after the year 2000 in an attempt to create a smoking-free generation.
A week after Australia upheld its world-first laws plain packaging laws, Tasmania's upper house unanimously passed a motion to introduce the ban from 2018.
The measure was proposed by Ivan Dean, a Tasmanian independent MP, who said the ban would be easy to enforce because the state already has restrictions on sales of cigarettes to minors. It would be the world's first such age-based ban and is also reportedly being considered in Singapore and Finland.
Mr Dean, a former police officer and mayor, said the ban would prevent young people "from buying a product that they can't already buy" but would not affect adult smokers. "This would mean that we would have a generation of people not exposed to tobacco products," he said.
"It would be easier for retailers to enforce because when they ask for ID, all they would need to see if the person was born after the year 2000 ... As the generation reaches 18 years, there will be fewer of them smoking and while some of those first turning 18 might smoke, as time goes on fewer and fewer will."
The state government, which will now consider whether to back the proposal in the lower house, indicated support for the ban.
"Saying that those people who sell cigarettes legally cannot sell cigarettes to a certain age is appropriate," said Michelle O'Byrne, the state's health minister. "We do it now. What the smoke-free generation would say is that, potentially, anyone from the year 2000 would not be able to buy cigarettes ever, because every year, it would just get that little bit older." » | Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney | Wednesday, August 22, 2012
