Tipsheet

UK Prime Minister Has an 'Insane Idea' to End Cigarette Smoking

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  October 06, 2023 7:30 AM

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to put an end to cigarette smoking, and not just among teens, but eventually the entire population.

How does he envision that happening? The nanny state. 

Sunak has proposed raising the legal age of people in England who can purchase cigarettes by one year, and wants to continue doing so each year until it becomes illegal for everyone. 

If the proposal is approved by Parliament, kids who turn 14 this year and younger will never be able to legally purchase cigarettes in England.

“People take up cigarettes when they’re young. Four in five smokers have started by the time they’re 20,” he said, according to AP. “Later, the vast majority try to quit ... if we could break that cycle, if we could stop the start, then we would be on our way to ending the biggest cause of preventable death and disease in our country.”

Recommended

Remember the Man Accused of Murdering Four University of Idaho Students? Well... Madeline Leesman
Bill Maher: 'This Is What I F***ing Hate About the Left' Madeline Leesman

Britain previously raised the age at which a person can legally buy tobacco products in 2007, from 16 to 18 years old, which helped bring smoking down among 16-17-year-olds by 30 percent, according to Sunak’s office. 

If the proposal succeeds, England won’t be the first country to pass such a legislation. New Zealand approved a similar measure last year.

Critics pushed back on the plan. 

Others, supportive of the proposal, wondered why, if his argument was framed on health and on the burden to the NHS, was there not a similar effort underway with regard to other preventable diseases.