End-game restarted

An independent member of the Legislative Council of Tasmania, Australia, has said he will seek to have banned the sale of cigarettes to anyone born after 2000, according to a Mercury story by Blair Richards, relayed by the TMA.

Ivan Dean said he would seek to bring about the ban by introducing an amendment to a current bill that seeks to regulate vapor products and require smoking cessation information at point-of-sale.

Dean previously introduced legislation, called the Tobacco Free Generation Bill, which is still on the Legislative Council’s books.

Kathryn Barnsley of SmokeFree Tasmania said the new measure “would provide a generational firebreak and protect our children and adolescents from these terrible diseases and death”.

Meanwhile, Dean said he would seek also an amendment to extend the three-meter non-smoking area around schools and hospitals to 10 meters.

Tasmania backed away from a proposal last year that would have raised the minimum tobacco-sales age from 21 to 25.