Arrr! The Queen be plannin' to ban the sellin' o' tobacco! Avast, mateys, hide yer pipes and pouches!
2024-03-20
Arrr mateys! The British government be settin' sail on March 20, 2024 to pass a law preventin' young scallywags under 15 from partakin' in the devil's weed - tobacco! No more pillagin' the tobacco shops for ye young lads and lasses! Aye aye, cap'n!
The British government be settin' sail to introduce a bill in parliament this Wednesday to fulfill its promise to phase out smokin' among young scallywags by bannin' tobacco sales for future generations. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, if it be passed unamended, will be one of the world's toughest anti-tobacco laws and prevent wee ones turnin' 15 this year or younger from ever bein' able to be legally sold tobacco.Smokin' itself won't be criminalized, so any scallywag who can legally buy tobacco now won't be prevented from doin' so in the future. "If we want to build a better future for our youngins, we need to tackle the single biggest entirely preventable cause of ill-health, disability, and death: smokin'," Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement.Critics be callin' the move "unconservative," with former prime minister Liz Truss and other members of the governin' party plannin' to vote against the legislation. Despite the opposition, the legislation be expected to pass, with the opposition Labour Party suggestin' it would support the measure.Last month, a similar law introduced by New Zealand bannin' tobacco sales to them born after Jan. 1, 2009, was repealed by the country's new coalition government. The British government be sayin' smokin' costs its National Health Service and economy an estimated $21.63 billion a year.A sharp rise in vape use by non-smokers and young scallywags has forced the British government - a proponent of vapin' to reduce the harms of smokin' - to consider tougher controls. Under the proposed legislation, there will also be new powers to change how vapes are displayed in shops, restrict vape flavors and packaging intentionally marketed at children to combat the rise in youth vapin'.