In between hours spent singing songs and swinging on swings, my strongest memory of preschool is how fervently all the adults spoke against smoking. They weren’t out to scare us, and it wasn’t preachy. Well, I suppose they were trying to indoctrinate us! But it was never, “Don’t do this or else!!” It felt more like another one of the many things we were learning, just a bit more serious than the names of shapes. I remember my five-year-old self thinking, “Wow, they really mean it about this smoking thing.” And I guess because I was a teacher’s pet very dedicated student (and my contrarian streak hadn’t manifested yet), the tactic of hook ‘em while they’re young into NOT smoking worked on me. I’ve never smoked and am truly thankful, because I’ve listened to people describe how unbelievably hard it is to quit.
Well, last week the UK government signed off on a smoking ban that makes my preschool’s methods look like the pee wee leagues. Under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, starting next year it will be illegal to sell smoking products to anyone born in or after 2009. Meaning 18-year-olds will no longer be able to buy cigarettes or vapes, for life, eventually leading to a smoke-free Britain. Here are the details:
The law, which would make it an offense to sell tobacco, herbal smoking products, or cigarette paper to someone born in or after 2009, will apply in the United Kingdom’s four constituent countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The bill expands existing laws on smoke-free premises to make them vape-free. Vaping in cars with passengers under 18 would be prohibited, as well as in playgrounds, outside schools, and at hospitals. Outside hospitals, however, vaping would still be allowed to support those trying to quit.
The bill will also empower ministers to regulate the flavors, packaging, and display of vapes and nicotine products. Advertising for smoking and vaping products will also be broadly banned. Managing or controlling vending machines with vapes or nicotine products is also an offense, unless in mental health hospitals mainly for inpatients. The U.K. already only permits persons aged 18 and up to buy vapes.
As part of increased oversight, the bill also provides powers to introduce a licensing scheme for the retail sale of tobacco and herbal smoking products, vapes, and nicotine products in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Violators in England and Wales could face fixed penalty notices, where payment of the fine within a specific time means they could avoid court. The fine is £200 (about $270) for minor infractions, and could go up to £2,500 (about $3,300) for offenses in connection with retail licenses.
According to a policy document published in 2024 about the bill, the age of sale restrictions for tobacco will come into force in January 2027, while other measures introduced through regulations will have separate enforcement dates.
More than 5 million people aged 18 and up smoke in the U.K., latest statistics show, with the largest proportion coming from the 25- to 34-year-old age group.
Smoking is a leading cause of preventable illness and death in the U.K., according to the NHS, which reported in 2019, more than 74,000 deaths in England were attributed to smoking among adults aged 35 and up. According to the House of Commons Library, there were more than 400,000 hospital admissions due to smoking between 2022 and 2023.
Smoking also impacts the U.K. economy negatively, according to Action on Smoking and Health, an advocacy group established by the Royal College of Physicians. Lost economic productivity and associated health and social care costs in England because of smoking add up to £43.7 billion (about $59 billion) and rise to £78.3 billion (about $100 billion) when factoring in the cost of smoking-related early deaths.
New Zealand passed a ban like this back in 2022, but it never went into effect after a conservative government was elected and killed the bill, something some English conservatives have promised to do as well. Nigel Farage had a predictably outraged op-ed in the Telegraph last month full of hot air, in which he puzzled over how “Ten years from now, a 27-year-old will not be legally able to buy cigarettes, but a 28-year-old will be able to.” Yes, Nigel, that’s how dates and aging work. Not that I think this bill will magically cure everyone’s smoking habits. It won’t, and as an American I can’t help but think of Prohibition and worry about what kind of mob-run bootlegging operations this ban might spawn. So I’m very interested to watch how this unfolds, because a smoke-free society is worth enacting sweeping change for.
Photos credit Cottonbro Studios and Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels, Tom Wichelow/Avalon
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