British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is currently planning a law that will make it impossible to legally buy cigarettes in the long term. It is foreseen that the minimum age will be increased every year by one more year from the current 18 years. However, Sunak faces strong resistance.
Dozens of Tory MPs could vote against the bill if it comes to a vote. Sunak’s immediate predecessor Liz Truss spoke of an infringement on the right of adults to self-determination. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is no longer a member of the House of Commons, thinks it is “absolutely crazy.” Winston Churchill’s party mainly wants to ban cigarettes, he added. The Nobel Prize winner and former British Prime Minister was known to enjoy smoking cigarettes.
Anti-smoking activists warn that the tobacco lobby is working behind the scenes to weaken, delay or even thwart the plans. However, the Labor Party, Britain’s main opposition force, supports the draft.
E-cigarettes must be restricted
The Conservative Prime Minister’s goal is to ensure that no one turning 15 or younger this year can ever legally buy cigarettes. His party’s draft also stipulates that e-cigarettes will become less attractive to young people. Sweet flavors and bright packaging should be limited. Disposable e-cigarettes should in principle be banned.
In Britain, around 80,000 people die every year as a result of smoking. The number of 11- to 17-year-olds who have tried so-called vapes has tripled in the past three years to 20.5 percent.
Source: Krone
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