The world-first ban prohibits anyone born after Jan. 1, 2007, from ever buying, using or smoking tobacco.
The Maldives has become the first country in the world to impose a generational smoking ban, barring anyone born after Jan. 1, 2007, from ever smoking, purchasing or using tobacco.
“The ban applies to all forms of tobacco, and retailers are required to verify age prior to sale,” the health ministry said Saturday as the ban came into effect.
The step “makes the Maldives the first country in the world to enforce a nationwide generational tobacco ban,” it added.
I don’t get the reasoning that “prohibition has never worked” and “there will be a black market”.
Yes there will be, and a number of people will still smoke.
But it will be a minority of people that would normally smoke. It will also remove smoking from the public image.
I really can’t imagine there being a larger number of smokers just because it’s prohibited.