Parliamentary debate on the ban on the sale of tobacco to young people is one step closer

NOS News•today, 12:24

Civil society organizations that advocate a ban on the sale of tobacco to young people are one step closer to their goal: a debate on this in the House of Representatives. They have collected more than 40,000 signatures for their citizens’ initiative Nicotinee. This number of signatures can ensure that the subject is placed on the agenda of the House of Representatives.

The initiators want, among other things, that consumers should be increasingly older to be able to buy (electronic) cigarettes and other products with nicotine. They propose to increase the age limit by one year every year from 2030. According to them, this will ultimately create a generation that no longer smokes or uses e-cigarettes. Now you have to be at least 18 years old to be allowed to buy cigarettes, for example.

Furthermore, according to the organizations, including two physician organizations, there should be a supervisory authority. They believe this is necessary “because a significant percentage of children well under the age of 18 already vape and smoke.” According to them, this is partly due to “failure to enforce the age limit, the ban on flavors and the online sales ban”.

The initiative was initiated by the Youth Smoking Prevention Foundation, Gezondheidskloof.nl, pulmonologist association NVALT, internist association NIV and ConsumerClaim. “We are going to submit our initiative to the House of Representatives,” says pulmonologist Wanda de Kanter, chairman of Smoking Prevention Youth. According to Stef Smit, director of ConsumerClaim, it is “high time that we protect our children against the harmful effects of nicotine-containing products”.

Last week, new American research showed that the use of vapes, electronic cigarettes, releases toxic metals. Through inhalation, they reach deep into the lungs and then into the body. It was already suspected that metals are released when vaping, but how much ends up in the body was not known.

By 2040, the Netherlands should have a generation of children for the first time who do not smoke and who will never smoke. This ambition is laid down in the National Prevention Agreement. The proportion of smokers among adults should no longer exceed 5 percent. It’s a long way from that. For example, the decline in the number of smokers in the Netherlands is disappointing.

Last month, an important step was taken in the United Kingdom towards a complete ban on tobacco in the long term. The British Parliament has approved plans that will no longer allow people born in 2009 or later to buy cigarettes, rolling tobacco and vapes.

New Zealand was well on its way to becoming the first country in the world to ban the sale of cigarettes. The legislation was introduced under the leadership of progressive former Prime Minister Ardern. But the country’s new leader, Luxon, did not like the plan. In February, he overturned the legislation. Luxon gave the reason that he fears the rise of cigarettes on the black market and that the state is therefore missing out on tax money.