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Marrakech – The United Kingdom’s Parliament has approved a law that will permanently ban anyone born on or after January 1, 2009, from buying tobacco products, in a move aimed at creating what ministers call a “smoke-free generation.”
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill cleared its final parliamentary hurdle on Tuesday after the House of Lords approved amendments made by MPs in the House of Commons. The legislation, introduced in November 2024, now awaits royal assent from King Charles III, expected next week as a formality.
The law will raise the legal age for purchasing cigarettes and tobacco by one year every year starting January 1, 2027. This means individuals currently aged 17 or younger will never reach the legal age to buy tobacco. The rules apply across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting called the bill’s passage “a historic moment for the nation’s health.” “Prevention is better than cure. This reform will save lives, ease pressure on the NHS, and build a healthier Britain,” he added.
Baroness Gillian Merron, parliamentary undersecretary at the Department of Health and Social Care, described the legislation as “the biggest public health intervention in a generation.”
Smoking causes roughly 64,000 deaths and 400,000 hospital admissions annually in England alone, costing the National Health Service around 3 billion pounds ($4 billion) in treatment for tobacco-related illnesses. Wider economic costs exceed 20 billion pounds yearly, driven largely by lost productivity.
Beyond tobacco, the bill tightens rules on vaping. Vaping will be banned in playgrounds, outside schools and hospitals, and in cars carrying passengers under 18. Ministers will gain powers to regulate flavors, packaging, and advertising of vaping and nicotine products. Vaping outside hospitals, however, will remain permitted to support those trying to quit smoking.
The legislation penalizes retailers who breach the new age restrictions with fines starting at 200 pounds ($270).
Not everyone supports the law. Lord Naseby, a Conservative member of the House of Lords, said the bill “does upset a great many people in that industry.” He argued that education, not legislation, is the proper approach to discouraging smoking. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has pledged to repeal the ban if his party comes to power.
Some vaping companies warned that overly restrictive measures on flavors and product availability could drive former smokers back to tobacco or into unregulated markets.
Health advocacy groups, meanwhile, urged the government to fund smoking cessation services for the roughly 5 million existing adult smokers in the UK, calling the current support system “a postcode lottery.”
The UK becomes the second country after the Maldives to enforce a generational tobacco ban. New Zealand passed similar legislation in 2022 but scrapped it after a change in government the following year.
Read also: Can Morocco Crack Down on Smoking in Public?
