Britain has taken very strict steps to stop smoking. Now preparations have been made for the new generation of people to stop buying cigarettes forever. The government has passed the ‘Tobacco and Vapes Bill’. Under this, people born after 2008 will not be able to buy tobacco related items throughout their life. The bill has been passed by Parliament and now only the formal approval of King Charles III is left, after which it will become law. This will be applicable in the whole of Britain i.e. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The government had introduced this bill in 2024 and had kept it among its biggest priorities. According to the new rule, this law will come into effect from January 1, 2027. The law will be applicable according to age. Strictness has also been done on e-cigarettes. Vaping (e-cigarettes) has also been tightened. Smoking will be completely banned in schools, hospitals and children’s play places. Vaping will also not be possible in many indoor places. If someone vapes in a car with a person under the age of 18, that would also be illegal. Britain’s Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said that this generation will be the first smoke-free generation spared from addiction and harm. He says that it is better to prevent the disease before treating it. The government says that this will create a smoke-free generation in the future and will reduce the diseases and deaths caused by smoking. However, some people and businessmen are calling it too strict and saying that it is more important to make people aware. Every year in Britain, 76 thousand deaths are caused by tobacco. The British government has taken this strict step because smoking remains a big threat to the health of the people there. According to the government data, every year more than 76,000 people die here due to cigarette related diseases. People lose their lives due to diseases like cancer, heart disease, etc. The government says that it becomes difficult to give up this habit from the beginning. Due to this, a lot of money is spent on the health service of Britain. If people smoke less, then this burden will also be reduced. Apart from this, people’s work is also affected due to which the government has already taken measures like warning and tax, but now efforts are being made to keep the new generation away from tobacco. New Zealand was the first country which gave the idea that people born after a certain age will never be able to buy cigarettes. This law was passed in the New Zealand Parliament in December 2022, under which people born after 2008 could not buy any kind of smoking products. This law was withdrawn in 2024. The government argued that this would help in raising revenue for more than 70 countries. Smoke-free policy According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Ireland became the first country to ban smoking in workplaces, restaurants and bars by 2007. By 2023, 71% of the world’s population (about 5.6 billion people) would be covered by some kind of smoke-free policy.
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