Rishi Sunak Wants To Raise Legal Age To Buy Cigarettes Every Year

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to gradually raise the legal age at which one becomes eligible to buy cigarettes so that eventually no one is eligible to buy them.

Prime Minister Sunak made the revelation at the Conservative Party conference on Wednesday, stating that this was the right step to prevent deaths. "A 14-year-old today will never legally be sold a cigarette," he said, as the age to buy cigarettes would increase by one year annually.

Sunak's government also wants to restrict the availability of disposable vapes. However, for the proposal to become law, it will have to be approved by the UK Parliament, writes the BBC.

"If we want to do the right thing for our kids, we must try and stop teenagers taking up cigarettes in the first place," said Sunak. "Because without a significant change, thousands of children will start smoking in the coming years and have their lives cut short," he added.

According to the Office for National Statistics, smoking caused nearly 75,000 deaths in 2020 alone. It is, in fact, one of the leading causes of preventable deaths in the UK. More than six million people smoke cigarettes in the UK currently. Smoking costs Britain's health services 17 billion pounds ($20.6 billion) a year.

The government ordered a review in 2022, which recommended raising the age at which a person can buy cigarettes from 18 to 21. It also suggested increasing duties on tobacco products to discourage people from buying them.

If the proposal becomes law, it would make Britain the first country in Europe to ban cigarette sales to younger people.

The big picture:

The proposal is similar to what has been seen in countries like New Zealand. Last year, it passed historic legislation that will prevent future generations from smoking cigarettes.

The law states that tobacco can't ever be sold to anybody born on or after January 1, 2009. It implies that the minimum age for buying cigarettes will keep going up every year. For example, 40-year-olds will not be able to buy cigarettes in 2050.

The legislation will be accompanied by a number of other measures to ensure that it achieves its goal of making the country smoke-free by 2025. New Zealand has also reduced the legal amount of nicotine in existing tobacco products.

Tobacco products will only be sold through specialty tobacco stores, rather than corner stores and supermarkets. The law has also reduced the number of retailers who will be allowed to sell tobacco from about 6,000 to 600. However, it doesn't ban vape products.