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New Zealand passed a law that phases out all sales of cigarettes... "Under the new laws, which take effect next year, the country’s smoking age of 18 would be

New Zealand passed a law that phases out all sales of cigarettes... "Under the new laws, which take effect next year, the country’s smoking age of 18 would be raised year by year until it applied to the whole population. Beginning in 2023, those under 15 would be barred from buying cigarettes for the rest of their lives." -NYT That's the only one I know of. I thought I heard about one other country considering a similar ban?

bdcravens 3y ago
There are also countries that ban the sale (and even possession) of alcohol. My presumption is that the commenter was speaking about the US, since that's been the context of the thread thus far.
romafirst3 3y ago
Seems reasonable, I don’t think we would have allowed the sale of tobacco if we knew then what we know now. Also it’s a drug that is mostly just addiction. It doesn’t really have a high until you are addicted to it, so I’m not sure non addicted users are going to be breaking too many laws to get it. Contrast with hard drugs, most of the users are not addicts, they are recreational users.
- bdcravens 3y ago
  Prevalence isn't a good criterion for illegality. After all, most instances of drunk driving don't result in a crash.
- s1artibartfast 3y ago
  >don’t think we would have allowed the sale of tobacco if we knew then what we know now. At the time when tobacco was first sold in the US men were allowed to duel each other to the death. Attitudes about what you can do to and with your body were different. Smoking opium, long known to be powerfully addictive was legal until the early 1900s, mostly for racist reasons
- squigz 3y ago
  > Contrast with hard drugs, most of the users are not addicts, they are recreational users. Am I just misunderstanding this sentence, or are you saying that most users of hard drugs aren't addicts?
  - romafirst3 3y ago
    I’m saying most users of hard drugs are not addicts.
    - squigz 3y ago
      Do you have any data to support that claim?
      - romafirst3 3y ago
        Here is a random journal article, but a quick google search will pull up a lot more. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2050324520904540 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2050324520904540
ljf 3y ago
Apparently we are going to do the same thing in the UK https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-to-create-smokefree-generation-by-ending-cigarette-sales-to-those-born-on-or-after-1-january-2009#:~:text=Proposed%20new%20legislation%20will%20make,completely%20as%20early%20as%202040 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-to-create-....

bdcravens 3y ago

There are also countries that ban the sale (and even possession) of alcohol. My presumption is that the commenter was speaking about the US, since that's been the context of the thread thus far.

romafirst3 3y ago

Seems reasonable, I don’t think we would have allowed the sale of tobacco if we knew then what we know now. Also it’s a drug that is mostly just addiction. It doesn’t really have a high until you are addicted to it, so I’m not sure non addicted users are going to be breaking too many laws to get it. Contrast with hard drugs, most of the users are not addicts, they are recreational users.

bdcravens 3y ago
Prevalence isn't a good criterion for illegality. After all, most instances of drunk driving don't result in a crash.
s1artibartfast 3y ago
>don’t think we would have allowed the sale of tobacco if we knew then what we know now. At the time when tobacco was first sold in the US men were allowed to duel each other to the death. Attitudes about what you can do to and with your body were different. Smoking opium, long known to be powerfully addictive was legal until the early 1900s, mostly for racist reasons
squigz 3y ago
> Contrast with hard drugs, most of the users are not addicts, they are recreational users. Am I just misunderstanding this sentence, or are you saying that most users of hard drugs aren't addicts?
- romafirst3 3y ago
  I’m saying most users of hard drugs are not addicts.
  - squigz 3y ago
    Do you have any data to support that claim?
    - romafirst3 3y ago
      Here is a random journal article, but a quick google search will pull up a lot more. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2050324520904540 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2050324520904540

ljf 3y ago

Apparently we are going to do the same thing in the UK https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-to-create-smokefree-generation-by-ending-cigarette-sales-to-those-born-on-or-after-1-january-2009#:~:text=Proposed%20new%20legislation%20will%20make,completely%20as%20early%20as%202040 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-to-create-....