Britain is introducing a bill to ban the sale of tobacco to young teenagers forever

An age-based ban on tobacco sales is back on the agenda in Britain after failing to implement the proposal before the country’s recent snap elections.

The original bill would gradually raise the minimum age for tobacco sales over time, effectively preventing those born after 2009 from ever purchasing tobacco products.

King Charles announced the return of the bill Wednesday as part of the King’s Speech: a series of new laws that the government hopes to adopt during the next session of Parliament.

Although he reads this list, the king has no role in determining its contents.

The Tobacco and Vaping Bill received widespread support among lawmakers in the country’s lower house when it was originally announced by Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government.

It was also welcomed by public health campaigners, many of whom called for its reintroduction shortly after the country elected Labor to power in early July.

But the bill is not without opponents, some of whom argue it could be difficult to enforce.

If passed, it would be one of the strictest tobacco laws in the world. But it will still have to find its way through parliament before this can happen. Lawmakers can amend the bill before it is put to a vote in both the House and Senate.

Although the number of smokers in Britain has fallen significantly in recent decades, a recent analysis by the charity Cancer Research UK shows that the number of smoking-related cancers is still increasing.

According to the data, about 160 smoking-related cancers are diagnosed every day. This is about twenty more cases per day than twenty years ago.

According to the report, approximately 160 cases of smoking are diagnosed every day analysis from the charity Cancer Research UK That’s an increase of 20 a day compared to 20 years ago.

Campaign group Action Against Smoking and Health welcomed Wednesday’s announcement.

Steve Turner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, called it a “major milestone” in the government’s “ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children in our history.”

“Preventing children and young people from taking up smoking will reduce their risk of developing preventable diseases later in life,” he added in an emailed statement. “As pediatricians, we work day in and day out to support children’s health; we are clear that children should not become addicted to nicotine and that vaping among young people must be tackled.”

Phasing out smoking, Greg Fell, president of the Association of Directors of Public Health, added said it would “save thousands of lives, help protect the next generation from ever becoming addicted to this deadly product and more would do to reduce the unacceptably large gap in healthcare. healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions than any other metric.”

Deborah Arnott, CEO of Action on Smoking and Health, said the announcement plays into the hands of the UK “in pole position to be the first country in the world to end smoking.”

“Smoking puts pressure on our NHS and social care system, but the biggest financial impact is the damage to our economy due to lost productivity,” she added. “The measures announced today will play an important role in helping the government achieve its ambition to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions and deliver productivity growth in every part of the country.”