Tobacco Trouble

I have never been to New Zealand but there are things I like a lot about the place. Natural beauty galore, pretty cool wildlife, islands and volcanoes and caves, and so on. Although the fact that there are no snakes is a bit of a bummer, if you ask me. I mean, what sort of self-respecting place has no native snake species?

Still, those are things that the people living there don’t have much to do with (except, well, perhaps that they haven’t destroyed it all). But every now and then, the country does something that makes me admire it a lot. Like the way it got citizens to surrender their firearms in the aftermath of that insanity in Christchurch (there is so much the U.S. could learn if it was a little less arrogant). Or appointing a goddamned National Wizard. Or giving women the right to vote way back in the 19th century. Or, to some extent, even the treatment towards the Māori, who were the original inhabitants of the islands.

The latest development to catch my eye is the country’s plan to stop its citizens from smoking tobacco. Just to be clear, I am all for the right to smoke and like my tobacco without the government interfering in how much I should smoke. But I am still hard-pressed to find objections with the regulations planned in New Zealand.

In short, the country will ban, starting in 2025, the sale of tobacco to anyone who was born after 2008. Which means no youngsters can pick up the habit, at least not easily and rarely without leaving the national borders. For the elders who are already addicted to their nicotine kick, they will still be able to buy cigarettes, albeit with lower nicotine content and at a higher price.

Very sound decision. Since there already exist countries that have stricter laws around alcohol, I can’t help but wonder why it has taken so long for one to finally take this step. Fuck big tobacco (for multiple reasons, mostly to do with how much they have life through their teeth all these decades).

Now, the question is, when will the country finally legalise marijuana? It seems to be only a matter of time, but it might become the first country where you can smoke weed more easily than tobacco! Which is always a good thing, if you ask me. If you are going to clog up your lungs, might as well at least get high!