Maldives to phase out smoking with generational ban

This aerial picture taken on November 15, 2023, shows people walking along a beach in Vilimalé Island. FILE PHOTO/Agence France-Presse

MALÉ, Maldives — The Maldives will attempt to stamp out smoking across the South Asian luxury tourist archipelago this year with a ban making it illegal for anyone currently under 19 to ever buy cigarettes.

A proposed law will prohibit the sale of tobacco products to individuals born after a January 2007 cut-off date, effectively phasing out smoking for future generations.

“The new legislation is set to come into force on November 1, 2025,” President Mohamed Muizzu’s office said in a statement issued after a cabinet meeting on Sunday.

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The penalties for breaching the new law were not immediately announced but officials said they were working to amend existing tobacco control laws to bring them in line with the new legislation.

A similar law proposed in Britain is still in the legislative process, while New Zealand — the first country to enact a generational law against smoking — repealed it in November 2023, less than a year after it was introduced.

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The Maldives raised the legal age for smoking from 18 to 21 in November and banned the importation of e-cigarettes and vaping devices, a policy that also applies to tourists.