Last year, New Zealand introduced a steadily rising smoking age to stop those aged 14 and under from ever being able to legally buy cigarettes in the world-first legislation to outlaw smoking for the next generation.
National’s unaffordable tax cuts to be funded by… (checks notes) …giving more people lung cancer.
we currently restrict sale of these products to people over 18
Did I not just address this? Was I circumspect?
Any law that forever excludes you from an activity that is otherwise legal - is not the same thing as limiting things to certain ages. No kidding a child born now can’t drive. But if they still can’t drive, sixteen years from now, while people who can drive now are still allowed to drive, that’s obviously not the same thing as saying ‘you have to be sixteen to drive.’
It is a fundamentally different restriction.
That form of restriction cannot be tolerated, no matter how grand the goal. It is incompatible with equality under the law. It is treating certain people differently, for life, for circumstances unrelated to ability, capacity, or safety.
If the industry is awful then it’s awful for everyone and should be banned for everyone. “Clever” in this case means “unethical, with extra steps.”
Did I not just address this? Was I circumspect?
Any law that forever excludes you from an activity that is otherwise legal - is not the same thing as limiting things to certain ages. No kidding a child born now can’t drive. But if they still can’t drive, sixteen years from now, while people who can drive now are still allowed to drive, that’s obviously not the same thing as saying ‘you have to be sixteen to drive.’
It is a fundamentally different restriction.
That form of restriction cannot be tolerated, no matter how grand the goal. It is incompatible with equality under the law. It is treating certain people differently, for life, for circumstances unrelated to ability, capacity, or safety.
If the industry is awful then it’s awful for everyone and should be banned for everyone. “Clever” in this case means “unethical, with extra steps.”
To me it was the best way of phasing the law in for everyone because it’s unfair on addicts to suddenly criminalize their addiction.