New Zealand plans to increase the purchase age for cigarettes in a bid to become a "smokefree nation".
The Smokefree Action Plan introduced by the government on Thursday plans to slowly increase the purchase age from 18 currently to 21 or 25 by 2025.
The government argued this will make it harder for teenagers under the age of 18 to be exposed to older pupils who smoke and to access cigarettes, citing research that states that 80% of smokers start before the age of 18 while nearly 97% start before they turn 25.
“This is a historic day for the health of our people,” Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall said in a statement.
“We want to make sure young people never start smoking so we will make it an offence to sell or supply smoked
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