Commentary
Occasionally, one comes across a law that creates more problems than it tries to solve.
The New Zealand Parliament adopted such a law on Dec. 13, the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022.
The law stipulates that a person “must not sell a smoked tobacco product to a person born on or after 1 January 2009” or having sold a smoked tobacco product to a person of any age “must not deliver it, or arrange for it to be delivered, to a person born on or after 1 January 2009.”
The new law thus prohibits people born after Jan. 1, 2009, from ever purchasing tobacco and cigarettes during their lifetime. Its objective is to make New Zealand smoke free by 2025….