SPAIN could follow in the UK’s footsteps by introducing a tobacco sales ban on anyone born after 2009.
As the country gets ready to roll out its ‘comprehensive’ anti-smoking plan with first initiatives including plain cigarette packets and a ban on flavoured vapes, Health Minister, Monica Garcia, says she’s following closely what’s happening in the UK.
“Everything can be applied here, I always say that nothing is impossible,” said Garcia, when asked about Tuesday’s House of Commons vote to raise age limits for tobacco purchases.
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She added: “The Ministry is going to look at the experiences in other countries to see which measures can help improve the health of our population.”
The National Committee for the Prevention of Smoking(CNPT) backs the age limit as a ‘good and effective’ measure that could be incorporated into the anti-smoking plan, but cast a doubt as to whether it could be a ‘legal fit’ in Spain.
CNPT president, Dr. Francisco Pascual asked: “Can the ban be maintained once somebody turns 18?”
“We don’t know, but it remains to be seen if it’s viable with the current legislation.”
Meanwhile, the Nofumadores.org platform has urged the Health Ministry to mirror the UK and put in the measure during the next amendment of the country’s tobacco law.
Nofumadores president Raquel Fernandez believes that the progressive abolition of the sale of tobacco for those born after 2009 would be ‘a crucial step’ to address the problem of smoking in Spain in an effective way that would mark a milestone in the history of the country’s public health strategy.
“The end of tobacco will not come from an agreement of health groups, nor because it is known how harmful it is, but it will come from the action of democratic parliaments,” she predicted.