On June 24 doctors at the British Medical Association (BMA) backed a proposal to ban cigarette sales to anyone born in or after the year 2000 in the United Kingdom.
This proposal would mean that this generation would never be able to legally smoke cigarettes, and would hopefully steer people down the road towards a smoke-free world.
Dr. Tim Crocker-Buque works with the BMA’s Junior Doctors Committee and sees the benefits of the ban according to The Telegraph, stating, “As this generation reach 18 in 2018 they would be prevented from buying cigarettes for their lifetime in a move that would progressively phase out cigarette sales.”
While the proposal did move forward, it is not without its opponents, who believe that prohibiting the buying of cigarettes for those born after 2000 would simply make it more attractive as mentioned in the same report. Similarly, there is the concern that, much like the United States’ prohibition, to make up for the lack of legal channels, a black market of cigarettes would simply sprout up.
Still, according to the director of Cancer Science and Trends at the American Cancer Society Tom Glynn, similar generational bans on the selling of cigarettes have been considered in the countries of Singapore and the island state Tasmania as reported by Bloomberg Businessweek, signaling the desire for some strong moves against smoking.