The Maldives has become the first country in the world to enforce a generational smoking ban – banning anyone born on or after January 1, 2007 from buying, selling or using tobacco in any form, including cigarettes. This rule also applies to tourists.
Other countries, including New Zealand and the United Kingdom, have tried to ban smoking among children, with little success. The Mint is investigating whether these bans actually work.
What does Maldives’ new tobacco policy say?
The Maldives is the first country in the world to ban “generational smoking”. In addition to banning anyone under 18 from buying, selling or using tobacco, it ordered retailers to verify the age of any customer buying such products.
Although tourists will also have to follow the rule, the government said it does not expect the ban to affect the country’s main tourism business.
Last year, the Maldives banned all vapes and e-cigarettes under the Tobacco Control Act 2024. Under the act, all tobacco use was banned in government buildings. Businesses could lose their license if tobacco is used illegally on their premises.
Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu has repeatedly said his government will invest in policies to protect the health of young people as the country’s population begins to age.
But do these bans really work?
Some research says yes. Last year, the International Agency for Research, an arm of the World Health Organization (WHO), published a study which found that banning tobacco sales to people born between 2006-2010 could prevent 1.2 million lung cancer deaths by 2095.
This was the first study of its kind to draw on data from the WHO Mortality Database, which covered 185 countries. But critics say such bans undermine freedom and the right to choose in a liberal democracy.
A research paper in the Australian journal Monash Bioethics Review published last year argued that the argument is invalid because smoking is addictive and therefore the choice to smoke is not autonomous.
Have other countries tried such “generational” bans?
Yes. In the UK, a similar tobacco ban called The Tobacco and Vapes Bill bans the sale of tobacco to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009. The bill was passed in the House of Commons and is now being considered by the House of Lords.
In a survey last year, the UK National Statistics Office found that 5.4 million adults in the country used cigarettes, compared to 4.9 million non-cigarette users, mostly aged 25-49.
New Zealand enacted a similar ban in 2022, banning anyone born in 2009 or later from buying and using tobacco products. While left-wing parties and Maori associations – the country’s indigenous people – praised the ban, right-wing groups opposed it, saying it would create a black market in tobacco and cigarettes. Tobacco companies were also unhappy. In February last year, the newly elected coalition government formally lifted the ban.
How is India’s youth doing with tobacco use?
India’s National Tobacco Control Program has not released data beyond 2019. According to the latest available data for that year, 8.5% of Indian students have used tobacco in some form. The highest number of cases was in Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram (57.9%), while the lowest was in Himachal Pradesh (1.1%) and Karnataka (1.2%).
In India, 3,600 people die every day from smoking. In 2022, the Department of Health and Social Care reported that lung cancer cases would rise by 5.2% to almost 100,000 between 2020 and 2022.
What are India’s laws regarding tobacco and e-cigarettes?
In 2019, India banned all forms of e-cigarettes and vaping for everyone, including foreigners visiting the country. Additionally, smoking in public places is banned in India, as is the sale of any tobacco products within 100 yards of any educational institution.
Cigarettes and tobacco products must have warnings and graphic depictions of cancer on the packaging. However, these laws are poorly enforced and there is a thriving gray market for vapes, e-cigarettes and contraband cigarettes and tobacco products without any standard warnings.
