A generational ban on smoking

I don't know anyone who likes smoking. Even people who smoke don't tend to like smoking. Most countries have been discouraging it (i.e. making it more unpleasant and more onerous) for decades now. There is a distinct stigma against smoking now. Hardly anywhere has actually banned it, though.

Britain is now part of an exclusive club that is moving to actually ban it. It's doing so by what is usually known as a "generational ban": a couple of weeks ago, Britain passed a law whereby anyone born after 1 January 2009 (i.e. those under 18 years old on New Year's Day 2027) will find it illegal to buy cigarettes in British shops. Or rather, it is illegal for shops to sell cigarettes to them. Ever. 

So, the whole younger generation - and subsequent generations, in perpetuity, at least in theory - will never be able to smoke (legally). This conjures up the prospect, one day, of a whole country where no-one smokes. Unless, of course, the law is later repealed - and you have to believe that it will be one day - smoking will be actively prohibited.

Healthcare advocates and cancer charities are lauding the bold move (smoking is one of the leading causes of preventable death, disability and ill health). Some conservatives are worried about its effects on employment in the industry, and others are howling about government overreach. But it does seem like the legislation is indeed going through.

The only other country to have passed a similar law is the Maldives. New Zealand was on the cusp of it until a change in government derailed the legislation. Also, 22 individual towns in the US state of Massachusetts have also passed generational bans (although that does make it rather easy to evade...)

In the meantime, though, all eyes are on the UK. How will it be policed? How easy will it be to evade? Will there be riots? What about people with clinical addictions? A large-scale social and medical experiment is going forward before our very eyes.