Do you think smoking should be made illegal?

Polls

21st April 2021

THE New Zealand government has suggested several new restrictions on cigarettes and tobacco products that could lead to a smoking ban for young people and future generations.

The country is aiming to be completely smoke-free by 2025. Several ideas for how to reach that target are under consideration, including a gradual increase to the legal smoking age that could effectively ban those born after 2004 from buying cigarettes, setting a minimum price for tobacco, and restricting where tobacco is sold.

Many health organisations in the country came out in support of the proposed restrictions. Cancer Society chief executive Lucy Elwood said: “Tobacco is the most harmful consumer product in history and needs to be phased out.”

Smoking rates are particularly high among Māoris (the indigenous people of New Zealand). Shane Kawenata Bradbrook, who campaigns for a tobacco-free Māori community, said he hopes the plans “will begin the final demise of tobacco products in this country”.

However, not everyone agrees that the plans are a good thing. There are concerns that small shops and convenience stores could lose money or even go out of business. The New Zealand government also admitted that clamping down on tobacco products risks an increase in criminals smuggling them into the country.

According to Associate Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall, about 4,500 New Zealanders die each year because of smoking.

One in four cancer deaths in the country are due to smoking, while around 500,000 people, or one in ten, smoke daily.

Do you think smoking should be made illegal?

51 Comments

Leave a Reply

nim-pom · 4 years ago

I simply do not understand how smoking is not illegal!!! Cigarettes and E-Cigarettes should fall into the category of illegal items, like many drugs, and should stop being sold (they were only sold in the first place for money). Smoking is extremely detrimental to health - it can cause fatal illnesses, like lung cancer, heart disease and negative reproductive effects on women. Smoking is killing yourself, and others. Passive smoking affects people who do not smoke, as they breathe in the smoke emitted by others who smoke; this can cause asthma, especially in young children. SMOKING MUST BE MADE ILLEGAL!

krixkrax8 · 4 years ago

yes should be iligal

timmy · 4 years ago

🚬=❌

artichoke · 4 years ago

If drugs are illegal, why aren’t cigarettes?

loldoll20 · 4 years ago

Smoking should be made illegal because, 1: you get no benefits from it 2: it harms people and gives them lung cancer 3: production of tobacco is harming animals; what if they eat the tobacco?

panda89 · 4 years ago

No. I hope projects should be in place to discourage smoking but stopping it is extreme as many shops which are suffering from covid need the money from cigs

applepear · 4 years ago

Smoking is polluting our planet. It is hurting our people and damaging our land. #QuitSmokingNow

gpfang · 4 years ago

Yes,because smoking make you have rotten teeth

scarlet10 · 4 years ago

what's good about it? and it is bad for your health

scarlet10 · 4 years ago

totally agree with nim-pom

opalstar · 4 years ago

Smoking is horrible, #Makesmokingillegal it gives you cancer, makes you feel rotten and is addictive, oh smoking is THE WORST. It will kill everybody who does it if they don't stop. Banish smoking!

katkid10 · 4 years ago

I believe that smoking should be illegal, Although they should bring in the rule slowly (because smoking has addictives, which means that you just want more of the thing - a bit like chocolate).

Smoking is bad for our climate and has no reason to be around. Cars are bad for the environment but they get people to places quicker - many people are also working out ways to make cars better for the environment, cigarettes, however, can not be changed to be better for the environment. Furthermore, cigarettes have barely any pros, but more cons:

Pros:

some people find it relaxing and cool

Cons:

with each cigarette, seven minutes of their life is lost,
hard to quit,
their clothes smell bad,
it can cause Cancer.

Also, a smoker's child is more likely to smoke. So, don't smoke - don't even try.

katkid10 · 4 years ago

It is also bad for the heart

meepemeeps · 4 years ago

I think it should be illegal since it is doing harm to the planet and doing harm to people that smoke. Business may go down by cigarettes going out of the shops, but it is doing no good to the world and the people that live here but instead just causing bad.

charlieee7 · 4 years ago

It shouldn't be illegal, because it is a personal decision, but it should be discouraged. I don't believe smoking is right, but if people aren't give the opportunity, cigarettes will just be smuggled in, meaning that the problem won't be solved.

nivi_madh · 4 years ago

you cant just say it is illegal , some people who smoke can feel as of every thing is against them. what would you do if they said your favourate food is illegal. what you should do is stop people starting the habit and try to ease out the bad habit but not suddenly

sherni · 4 years ago

I agree with nim-pom

candyapple · 4 years ago

I think it SHOULD be made illegal!!!

pinkyfox · 4 years ago

Smoking is bad for people and the environment, it should be illegal!

milkpuddin · 4 years ago

smoking is bad for you

minja8 · 4 years ago

It should be illegal because it is addictive and is bad for the lungs

minja8 · 4 years ago

It's bad for teeth and you can get athsma SMOKING SHOULD STOP

ivansp2011 · 4 years ago

It should be illegal as it is not healithy for your lungs and people die from it. People become addicted to. However, it does calm you down when you are angry though but I still do not believe it should be legal

ivansp2011 · 4 years ago

charlieee7, yes it is the person's decision but you become addicted. The person may die.

abhi01 · 4 years ago

Smoking should be made illegal because it causes health issues, harms you etc etc.

weirdcat · 4 years ago

Why smoking not illegal already?! It harms your lungs,teeth, overall health! Its bad for young children to be around the smoke too. It definitely should be illegal.

ginny09876 · 4 years ago

I think that the Government should give a special permit to people who are already smoking because it’s really hard to stop and if you don’t have a permit then you can’t buy a cigarette.

owlgebra · 4 years ago

Why shouldn't it be illegal? It is damaging our planet, and people's mental health issues aswell as people's physical issues, like lung cancer. Also, if others breathe it in, it can cause affects on them too.

ridulfa · 4 years ago

thousands of people literally die of illnesses caused by smoking so it should be illegal

mcgeorge1 · 4 years ago

Smoking is terrible for your lungs and equally as terrible for the environment alike so a ban should come in to place if not to protect the environment then to protect the worlds people

piggy9876 · 4 years ago

I think that smoking should not be made illegal right now, but possibly in the future because Covid-19 has been really hard on some shops and they might have to close down if they can't sell cigarettes. Also everybody who smokes would be made a criminal and could increase smuggling through borders losing the respect and control the UK government has over the country. Schemes and projects have had a really big impact on people who smoke and has coursed a huge decrease in the number of smokers. However, they do this by encouraging people not to smoke instead of forcing them, this is better and more human. By making smoking illegal, the problem will still be the same if not worse and will have no impact at all on people who buy cigarettes. All it will do it increase smuggling and illegal transportation, create a huge amount of redundancy and basically not help the problem at all. That's my opinion anyway 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁

freya2909 · 4 years ago

@artichoke u r soooo right

dadoo · 4 years ago

I think smoking shouldn’t be made illegal but people should have cards and they get stamped for every cigarette pack that you have had as people just smoke too many packets a day 🤔🤔😉😉

goldkitty1 · 4 years ago

I can’t believe they’re not already illegal, it’s one of the worst things for your health!

beingme · 4 years ago

it should be illegal because it is harming us and our world.i always beg y mum not to smoke and she has but she now use a vape as it is very hard to quit smoking (she does have a backup packet though) i think it is a ba habit and that it should be stopped but not by forcing people into quiting.

beingme · 4 years ago

Illegal = ✅
legal =❌

trixx · 4 years ago

Smoking causes extreme health conditions have started forest fires are slowly polluting our environment. They should at least ban cigarettes the amount of litter they can cause it’s disgusting.

poodles · 4 years ago

Yes as smoking is bad and the only reason it hasn't been banned yet is because the government makes money from the extra taxes the smokers pay when they buy a cigarette.

bdm · 4 years ago

Smoking is damaging the populations' lungs and breathing. In some cases, excessive smoking can even cause lung failures: a fatal illness. Making it illegal, would, potentially, save thousands of lives and save the NHS thousands of pounds.

ebazgo · 4 years ago

Yes because I'm getting a bit worried about my uncle...

elma@you · 3 years ago

Both

kelly · 3 years ago

YES

mwhitty · 3 years ago

It bad for your lungs it gives you an addiction and sooooo many other bad things! I don’t know why they didn’t ban it already !

mwhitty · 3 years ago

#Makesmokingillegal

thomas.s · 3 years ago

No because it would cause people to smuggle it in to the country instead and jobs would be lost. So, I would tell people not to and possibly put a limit on how many you can buy or make the price higher

milkpuddin · 3 years ago

oo
v

no
smoking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

smartbryan · 3 years ago

Ban smoking

dscool · 3 years ago

SMOKING MUST BE STOPPED NOW🚬=❌❌

dscool · 3 years ago

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

simbasimba · 3 years ago

100 per sent illegal.

allegrag · 2 years ago

Smoking is really bad for our lungs it should 100% be made illegal. Why has no one made it illegal yet?