New Zealand smoking ban: GP calls on Northern Ireland to learn from 'radical' new law

Dr Alasdair McDonnell was speaking after New Zealand passed a unique law which imposes a lifetime ban on young people buying cigarettes.

The new law says that tobacco cannot ever be sold to anybody born on or after January 1, 2009.

It means the minimum age for buying cigarettes will keep going up and up. It will not impact vaping.

“There is no good reason to allow a product to be sold that kills half the people that use it,” New Zealand associate minister of health Dr Ayesha Verrall told MPs.

“And I can tell you that we will end this in the future, as we pass this legislation.”

She said the health system would save money as a result, through less cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and amputations.

The libertarian ACT party, which opposed the bill, said many small corner stores would go out of business because they would no longer be able to sell cigarettes.

Brooke van Velden, ACT’s deputy leader, said the gradual ban amounted to “nanny-state prohibition” that would end up creating a large black market.

Former SDLP leader Dr McDonnell said that based on his career as a GP, the New Zealand analysis is correct.

"Basically tobacco does serious damage to health and ultimately causes people to die early," the former south Belfast MP and MLA said.

"And that imposes a massive burden on the health service. Tobacco related chest and cardiac problems fill up our hospitals in the winter.

He added: "We need a tobacco strategy here to cope with the pressure that it puts on health service. We need a tobacco strategy here to phase out tobacco or reduce tobacco smoking."

He added: "It is fairly draconian but New Zealanders are fairly radical in their thinking. I would be keen to monitor this and draw lessons from the bits that work.

"From a medical perspective I have observed how smokers tend to die 10-12 years younger than they should do.

"I have repeatedly watched brothers of equal standing and health conditions - and the one that smoked died at 70 and the one who didn't lasted till 82 or 83."