Infantilising young adults in the name of health
Saturday, April 17, 2021 at 11:00 I was on LBC last night and when I say ‘last night’ I mean last night.
The interview, recorded with presenter Clive Bull earlier in the evening, was broadcast around 2.00am.
You wonder how many people listen to the radio at that hour but when I woke up this morning there was an email from a friend who says she’s addicted to LBC and heard it as she was going to sleep.
(Is that a compliment? I’m not sure. Either way I’m delighted if I helped cure her insomnia.)
Anyway, Clive’s producer had rung to ask if I would talk about two things.
One, the story (which I wrote about here) suggesting that many smokers are smoking more as a result of Covid.
Two, the news - reported yesterday - that the New Zealand government is proposing to ban the sale of tobacco to anyone born after 2004.
That means, for example, that in 2040 you might be 36 but it would be illegal for anyone to sell you cigarettes. If on the other hand you are 37, no worries.
Meanwhile my colleague in Ireland, John Mallon, was also discussing this on the radio yesterday.
John appeared on The Hard Shoulder, the late afternoon programme on Newstalk, Ireland’s leading independent radio station.
Also on the programme was my old friend Prof Luke Clancy, formerly of ASH Ireland. According to John, Clancy didn’t think the policy would work and it would be unfair to target 18-year-olds.
Interestingly the leading anti-smoking group in New Zealand is also opposed to the idea:
Action for Smokefree 2025 director Deborah Hart said the independent non-governmental organisation (NGO) was not supportive of the idea because it would not make a dent in smoking rates.
“We already have a smokefree generation, 15- to 17-year-olds already at smokefree, there are only 3 percent of them that smoke and the 15- to 24-year-old cohort there's declining smoking rates - that was at 10 percent last year - they have the highest quit rates already," she said.
Another idea is to restrict the number of stores that can sell tobacco.
The Cancer Society wants a huge reduction in the number of stores that are allowed to sell tobacco. Between 3,000 and 4,000 shops sell tobacco in New Zealand, but the Society would like that to drop as low as 200 to 300.
What these idea reflect is the desperation of some who have set an unrealistic goal - in this instance a ‘smokefree’ New Zealand by 2025 (ie four years’ time).
The bizarre thing is that smoking rates in New Zealand are at an all-time low, and continuing to fall in most age groups.
As Deborah Hart noted, just three per cent of 15-17 year-olds in New Zealand currently smoke.
OK, that figure rises to ten per cent for the 15-24 age group but that category factors in those aged 18-24 and there’s a crucial difference.
When you are 18 you are considered in the eyes of the law to be an adult. Government policies should reflect that, not discriminate against you on the grounds that because you are a ‘young’ adult you should continue to be treated like a child.
Some people will dismiss this as something that is happening on the other side of the world. “It won’t happen here.”
But that’s what some people said about plain packaging when Australia became the first country to introduce it in December 2012.
The horrible truth is that English-speaking countries are leading the charge for a ‘smoke free’ utopia and anything that happens Down Under will almost certainly be embraced by the more hardcore tobacco control campaigners in the UK.
Yesterday, for example, ASH Scotland was quick to tweet, ‘Great to see a bold and ambitious action plan from the NZ Gov ... Best of luck with it all!’
The tweet linked to ‘Proposals for a Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan’.
Incidentally, ASH Scotland yesterday published its own manifesto for the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections.
I didn’t know ASH Scotland was a political party but if you have a spare moment you can read it here.
Anyway I’m signing off for the rest of the day to watch Prince Philip’s funeral. It’s the least I can do to mark this remarkable man’s life.
Reader Comments (2)
This is just the next phase in criminalising smokers. There will never be a situation where a 36 year old can be prosecuted for smoking but a 37 year old cannot. This is because at some point, my guess is 10 years or less, after the imposition of this law, all remaining smokers will be put in notice to quit by a certain date or else.
These moralists don't care about child smokers because any child that starts smoking is just a future adult to be bullied, abused or criminalised by those same hand wringers.
No one wants to see children smoking in the 21st century but even that is healthier than the jackboot fascism enforced via the velvet glove iron fist of Nanny Jacinda and her public health pets.
Hmmm. Now, wasn't it our NZ friends who were confidently predicting back in the early 2000s that they anticipated being "smoke free" by 2012? So, how did that go, chaps? Oh .....