(BBC News) New Zealand’s new government says it plans to scrap the nation’s world-leading smoking ban to fund tax cuts.
The legislation, introduced under the previous Jacinda Ardern-led government, would have banned cigarette sales next year to anyone born after 2008.
Smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths in New Zealand, and the policy was intended to stop young generations from picking up the habit.
Health experts have strongly criticized the sudden reversal.
“We are appalled and disgusted… this is an incredibly retrograde step on world-leading, absolutely excellent health measures,” said Prof Richard Edwards, a tobacco control researcher and public health expert at the University of Otago.
“Most health groups in New Zealand are appalled by what the government’s done and are calling on them to backtrack,” he told the BBC.
The legislation passed last year had been acclaimed internationally with research models backing the key reforms.
Measures included restricting the number of tobacco retailers, and reducing the level of nicotine in cigarettes.
Modelling had suggested the Smokefree laws could save up to 5,000 lives per year.