A bill banning anyone born after 2008 from buying tobacco in the UK has completed its progress through parliament in a move that ministers hope will create a “smoke-free generation”.
Under the tobacco and vapes bill anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 will never be able to be legally sold tobacco across the UK, in an effort to save lives and reduce the burden on the NHS.
Wow, treating adults like children.
Why only those born after 2008? Afraid of they banned it outright current adults would (justifiably) have a cow?
How is this any different than banning any other substance from adults?
I say this as someone who despises tobacco.
Eh, I think it makes sense. It’s like a phase out.
The usual term is “grandfather clause”. It’ll be banned, but if you are old enough to have previously purchased it legally (and potentially become addicted), you will be grandfathered in.
There are certainly parallels with the war on drugs, but also with things like lead paint and asbestos.
Imposing negative externalities while failing to understand and empathize with others is characteristic of the preoperational stage of development, but most children grow out of it by around age 7.
because those born after 2008, in most cases, likely haven’t started smoking yet. so it’s easier.
If they out right ban it, and I can say this as someone who has FINALLY quit smoking after god knows how many attempts, they’d be in a world of hurt. The last thing you would want is a very large populace of people who are all angry and craving for a nic fix. Shit is harder to quit than many hardcore drugs. I stopped drinking years ago and quitting smoking was 10x harder than that.
It feels slightly ageist to me, I’d have preferres sth that tries to deter all of society equially (and that gets more stringent with time), but hey ho
I heard somewhere that the most smuggled drug in Germany is tobacco even though it is legal. I can imagine things in the UK being similar. That would mean that the black market is already well established for any kid wanting to smoke who doesn’t have an older person who can supply them.
Then again I think tobacco’s immediate effects are so small that it may not be as desirable as a drug so that they would rather drink alcohol or smoke weed to get a more perceptible buzz.
New generation of outlaws coming up. Stay tuned.
The war between soul sucking tobacco lobbyists and British MPs looking for any excuse to cut NHS.
No matter who wins, we lose.
Ahh yes making plants illegal as god intended. I don’t see any way this could possibly go wrong.
I thought it’d be like raising the age until it hit 21 or something, but they’re just raising the age infinitely lmao 😂
Brits really are hilarious.
