New Zealand's government will repeal on Tuesday a world-first law banning tobacco sales for future generations, despite warnings from researchers and campaigners about the possibility of death.
The world's strictest anti-tobacco regulations, scheduled to take effect in July, would have prohibited sales to those born after January 1, 2009, lowered the amount of nicotine in smoked tobacco products, and eliminated more than 90% of tobacco merchants.
New Zealand To Repeal Smoking Ban
The new coalition government, elected in October, announced the repeal would occur on Tuesday as urgent, allowing it to repeal the law as planned without seeking public comment.
Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said the coalition government is adopting a different regulatory strategy to discourage smoking and lessen its harmful effects.
"I will soon be taking a package of measures to the cabinet to increase the tools available to help people quit smoking," Costello said, adding that regulations on vaping would also be tightened to discourage youth.
The decision has been widely criticized for the possible negative effects on health outcomes in New Zealand, particularly for the higher-than-average smoking rates of the Maori and Pasifika populations.
According to Otago University researcher Janet Hoek, the repeal would maintain health imbalances and go against substantial research findings and measures highly endorsed by Maori leaders.
Hoek, who was also a co-director of a group studying ways to reduce smoking, noted that large-scale clinical trials and modeling studies show the legislation would have rapidly increased the rates of quitting among smokers and made it difficult for teenagers to take up smoking.
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Study Suggests Menthol Bans Help Smokers Quit
According to CNN, recent studies said that bans on menthol cigarettes are effective in helping individuals to stop smoking.
The US Food and Drug Administration claimed that menthol ban is a "top priority." However, public health groups have criticized the Biden administration for being slow to act, and the ban has become entangled in election-year politics despite research showing clear health benefits.
A recent study published on Wednesday in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research examined studies that looked at the impact of bans in over 170 US cities, two states, several countries, and the European Union.
Furthermore, the researchers thoroughly searched the English-language tobacco studies published in November 2022. The data showed that roughly 25% of smokers who use it quit within a year or two when menthol is banned from cigarettes.
Researchers discovered that of the menthol smokers who persisted in smoking after the restrictions were implemented, around half switched to non-menthol cigarettes, 12% to other flavored tobacco products, and another quarter found a way to keep smoking menthol.
The studies indicated that national bans appeared to be the most effective. Menthol cigarette smoking rates were lower in settings with national bans and highest when there were only local or statewide bans.
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