A SMOKING BAN that would stop people born after the year 2000 from buying cigarettes in Tasmania, Australia, looks set to be voted down in the state’s lower house of parliament.
A non binding vote on Tuesday passed a motion to explore a ban on the sale of tobacco products to anyone born after the year 2000.
The Telegraph reports the motion was proposed by independent member of parliament Ivan Dean who said the ban would prevent young people from buying a product they can’t already buy but would not affect adult smokers.
“This would mean that we would have a generation of people not exposed to tobacco products,” he said.
Though the Health Minister Michelle O’Byrne indicated support for the idea, the Liberals and the government’s power sharing parnters the Greens say they are against the motion.
Independent Jim Wilkinson told ABC that “prohibition just doesn’t work”. He said:
Look at children now under the age of 18. You’ve got to go outside into any area where they are and you can see a number of them are smoking. The law doesn’t stop them from smoking. What will stop them from smoking is if they can see what it does to their health in later years.
Just last week the Australian parliament’s upper house signed off on strict cigarette packaging laws that prohibit tobacco company logos on packs. All cigarette boxes must now be produced in an olive green colour and display images of cancer-riddled mouths, sick babies and blinded eyes.
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