New Zealand will ban smoking in cars with minors effective Nov. 28, reports The New Zealand Herald. The rule defines children as any person under the age of 18 and applies to moving and stationary vehicles alike.
The measure is part of the government’s commitment to achieve its “Smokefree 2025” goal and follows moves such as including plain packaging of cigarettes, a retail display ban and progressive vaping legislation that supports vaping use as a quit-smoking tool.
A 2018 Youth Insights Survey found that about 15 percent of 14- to 15-year-olds were exposed to secondhand smoke in vehicles, while 26 percent of Māori and Pacific students were exposed to it.
While welcoming the new law, Action and Smoking and Health (ASH) said more needs to be done to achieve the country’s target of being smokefree by 2025.
About one in eight New Zealand adults smoke cigarettes daily and this rises to one in three among Māori.
“We are not on track to get to the Smokefree 2025 goal,” said Ash Director Deborah. “What is needed immediately is greater investment in community-led initiatives to help people quit and mass media campaigns that support quit efforts.”